Influence of magnetron sputtering parameters on the properties and structure of oxide coatings for solar power plants and devices in the agro-industrial complex

Electrification of technological processes in the agro-industrial complex significantly expands the possibilities of production growth, safety and product quality, as well as contributes to improving working conditions and the environmental situation. Solving these problems almost always requires a significant increase in energy consumption. The use of solar installations for these purposes in the agro-industrial complex is associated with problems of increasing efficiency and with factors arising from the negative effects of the external environment and time. To reduce the influence of these factors on the optical surfaces of solar installations and devices, protective, antireflective and conductive coatings based on oxides of various metals are applied. The method of magnetron sputtering of solid phase targets is the most promising among plasma chemical methods for their production. In this regard, studies of the dependence of the properties and structure of coatings on their technological parameters of magnetron sputtering are very relevant. There has been established that changing the argon pressure, discharge power and deposition temperature, it is possible to obtain oxide coatings with a layer resistance of 10-5 ohms/m2 with a transmittance in the visible region of 88-93%. It is shown that a combined change in temperature and power can change their texture and adjust the size of crystal blocks from 0,01 to 0,2 microns. The linear dependence of the deposition rate on the discharge power makes it possible to obtain coatings of a given thickness with an accuracy of ± 5 nm. An analysis of their electro-optical properties has shown the prospects of using magnetron sputtering to apply antireflective, protective and conductive oxide coatings to solar panels and devices for agriculture. The results of the work can be used in the development of technologies for obtaining oxide coatings of the required thickness, structure and physical properties for solar installations and devices in the agroindustrial complex. The research methods used in this work do not depend on the nature and composition of the deposited coatings and can be used when studying the processes of their production by magnetron sputtering of various materials.