Parameter-interval estimation for cooperative reactive sputtering processes
This provides improved parameter estimation for reactive sputtering thin-film deposition processes, though it appears incremental as it builds on a well-established model.
The authors tackled the problem of estimating parameter intervals for uncertain nonlinear reactive sputtering processes, developing a novel method that guarantees all parameterizations within the interval yield outputs consistent with experimental data, with validation demonstrating practical applicability.
Reactive sputtering is a plasma-based technique to deposit a thin film on a substrate. This contribution presents a novel parameter-interval estimation method for a well-established model that describes the uncertain and nonlinear reactive sputtering process behaviour. Building on a proposed monotonicity-based model classification, the method guarantees that all parameterizations within the parameter interval yield output trajectories and static characteristics consistent with the enclosure induced by the parameter interval. Correctness and practical applicability of the new method are demonstrated by an experimental validation, which also reveals inherent structural limitations of the well-established process model for state-estimation tasks.