This sounds cool! Building Scientific Apparatus is a truly excellent resource.
Two questions: (1) Could you get away with an inert atmosphere? I'm not familiar with the pros and cons with respect to PVD.
(2) It sounds like your vacuum setup will have a long cycle time from vent to pumpdown to operation. A load lock with a (turbomolecular?) pump adds quite a bit of expense. What's your approach to achieving high throughput?
Two questions: (1) Could you get away with an inert atmosphere? I'm not familiar with the pros and cons with respect to PVD. (2) It sounds like your vacuum setup will have a long cycle time from vent to pumpdown to operation. A load lock with a (turbomolecular?) pump adds quite a bit of expense. What's your approach to achieving high throughput?