Plasma Assisted Reactive Magnetron Sputtering Technology (P.A.R.M.S.) produces optical coatings comparable in performance, and lower in cost than ion beam sputtered technology, and also offers advantages over evaporative and RF sputter techniques.

Reactive magnetron sputtering has a high uniformity over a large area and a compatible geometry for mass-production operation of optical films from UV to NIR. Magnetron technology operates at a comparatively longer MTBM than ion beam sputtering equipment with few consumable components. Reactive sputter techniques allow for growth rates of oxide and nitride materials exceeding 30nm/min from high purity metallic targets, leading to fast cycle times. Metallic targets offer advantages in lifetime, biasing, refining, and thermal management. The addition of high current ion sources to a magnetron sputter process provides advantages in defect density reduction and refractive index stability while allowing targets to sputter in pure metallic mode. Multiple types of magnetrons (RF, AC, DC) can also be operated simultaneously to provide precision control of element ratios and doping for optically active materials.

Advances in optical endpoint monitoring have also improved the precision of complex multilayer deposition which can deliver spectral performance matching theoretical models and fabricating designs with hundreds of layers. Overall, Plasma Assisted Reactive Magnetron Sputtering remains one of the most reliable methods to produce optical filters, AR films, and HR coatings.