Global Sputter Coater Market - 2022-2029

Market Overview

The global sputter coater market has reached US$ XX million in 2021 and is expected to reach US$ XX million by 2029, growing at a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period 2022-2029.

Sputter coating adds an ultra-thin layer of an electrically conducting metal such as gold, palladium, platinum, silver, chromium, or iridium to a non-conducting or poorly conducting specimen. The machine that is utilized to perform is called a sputter coater. A sputter coater bombards a target with rapid heavy particles, while a gaseous glow discharge occurs between an anode and a cathode.

Sputter coating protects the specimen from charging, which would otherwise occur caused by the accumulation of residual electric fields. In addition, it raises the number of secondary electrons detected from the specimen's surface, increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. The sputtered films typically have thicknesses ranging from 2 to 20 nm.

Market Dynamics

The increasing demand for consumer products that contain semiconductor chips is expected to drive the global sputter coater market. However, the disadvantages of sputter coating as they pertain to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) are likely to restrain the market.

The increasing demand for consumer products that contain semiconductor chips

Consumer products containing chips are in high demand. The need for chips is likely to rise as technologies that require large amounts of semiconductors, such as 5G and electric vehicles, become more common. Most semiconductor fabrication factories are operating at roughly 90% of their capacity.

In December 2021, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) revealed that global semiconductor sales were US$ 48,800 million in October 2021, a 24% rise from the US$ 39,400 million total in October 2020. Furthermore, according to a newly issued WSTS industry projection, yearly global sales would rise 25.6% in 2021 and 8.8% in 2022.

Moreover, the global market is expected to expand by 8.8% in 2022, reaching US$ 601,500 million in annual sales. WSTS compiles its semi-annual industry forecast by soliciting feedback from a diverse set of global semiconductor firms that give reliable and timely indicators of semiconductor trends. WSTS forecasts year-on-year rises of 26.7% in Asia-Pacific, 25.6% in Europe, 24.6% in Americas and 19.5% in Japan.

The disadvantages of sputter coating as they pertain to a scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) are versatile equipment that can offer nanoscale-level information about various samples with small sample preparation. Sputter coating the materials before working with SEMs is required to achieve a high-quality SEM image. However, sputter coating SEM samples has drawbacks. For one thing, defining the appropriate coating settings takes more time and effort. The sample's surface contains the sputter-coated rather than the original material, even more crucially. Therefore, the atomic number contrast is lost.

In most circumstances, however, the sputter coating procedure's settings are properly chosen and these concerns do not arise, allowing the user to acquire the accurate, high-quality photographs they require.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis

Automotive and semiconductor are the two most significant industries that use sputter coater. In August 2021, Toyota and Volkswagen issued dire warnings, providing new evidence that the auto sector remains firmly in the grip of a protracted semiconductor chip scarcity that shows no signs of abating. After being forced to close operations last year as the epidemic spread, automakers face intense competition for semiconductor chip deliveries from the vast consumer electronics industry due to global supply chain disruption.

As a result, pandemic-related production bottlenecks and growing demand for consumer products containing chips have resulted in semiconductor shortages and skyrocketing costs over the last two years.

Segment Analysis

Based on process, the global sputter coater market is segmented into DC diode sputtering, RF sputtering, magnetron, reactive sputtering and others.

Magnetron sputtering is the most common process for generating metal layers in microelectronics. While only an electric field is used in simple cathode sputtering, an extra magnetic field is set up at the magnetron sputter behind the cathode plate. As a result, incorporating the magnetic and electric fields lengthens the electron journey and increases the number of collisions per electron. The electron density is most prominent at the point where the magnetic field is parallel to the target surface.

Moreover, the increased ionization capability of electrons effectively increases the number of noble gas ions and hence the sputtering rate. As additional target material is atomized, coating rates at the same process pressure increase dramatically. Because layer growth and hence layer characteristics, in addition to temperature, are principally determined by the process pressure, it can begin with the same growth rates but a process pressure up to a hundred times lower than in conventional sputtering. As a result, the material scatters less on its path to the substrate, resulting in a denser coating.

Geographical Analysis

Based on geography, the global sputter coater market is segmented into North America, Europe, South America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa.

Asia-Pacific is predicted to have a substantial market share owing to the region's expanding semiconductor production in countries like Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China. In addition, rising demand for PVD coatings from solar photovoltaic cells and the medical equipment industry is projected to drive the market over the forecast period.

Taiwan is the unrivaled global semiconductor sector leader. For instance, according to industry estimates, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) accounts for more than 90% of the global output of semiconductor chips. The company has captured a technology critical to today's cutting-edge digital products and weaponry by controlling the production of the most advanced semiconductors.

Furthermore, technical advancements in the robotics industry in Japan and China are expected to drive demand for semiconductor coatings. Therefore, the rising need for semiconductor chips is likely to be bolstered by rising demand from the robotics industry.

Competitive Landscape

The global sputter coater market is highly consolidated with multinational businesses. Major players in the market include ULVAC, Inc., Quorum Technologies, Buhler, Cressington Scientific Instruments, Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Oxford Instruments, Semicore Equipment, Plassys Bestek, PVD Products and Denton Vacuum, among others. Further, product development, technological advancement, acquisition, merger and collaboration are the primary growth methods these companies use to improve their geographical presence to address the growing demand for sputter coater.

ULVAC, Inc.

Overview: ULVAC, Inc. is a Japan-based corporation linked with Matsushita Electric Industrial Company that develops, manufactures, sells and maintains manufacturing systems and products that rely on vacuum-based processing chambers through over 30 subsidiaries. The company is headquartered in Kanagawa, Japan.

Product Portfolio: UNVAC, Inc. offers SV-200, a vertical batch-type sputter specialized for disk stamper nickel deposition. The product is fully-automatic and features a compact design with high throughput.

Key Development:

In July 2020, UNVAC, Inc. launched its new website. The new website offers a more welcoming and comfortable design for all viewers, especially smartphones.

Why Purchase the Report?

To visualize the global sputter coater market segmentation by process, substrate, target type, end-user and region and understand key commercial assets and players.

Identify commercial opportunities in the global sputter coater market by analyzing trends and co-development.

Excel data sheet with numerous data points of sputter coater market-level with four segments.

PDF report consisting of cogently put together market analysis after exhaustive qualitative interviews and in-depth market study.

Product mapping available in excel consists of key products of all the major market players

The global sputter coater market report would provide approximately 69 tables, 66 figures and almost 198 pages.

Target Audience 2022

Service Providers/ Buyers

Industry Investors/Investment Bankers

Automotive Manufacturers

Semiconductor Manufacturers

Electronics Businesses

Research Professionals