i-photonics-comet-einstein-telescope-coating-infrastructure.avif

Building Europe’s Next-Generation Coating Infrastructure for the Einstein Telescope

At I-Photonics UAB, we are proud to contribute to the development of CoMET – Coating Materials for Einstein Telescope, a new research laboratory in Rovigo, Italy, dedicated to advanced thin-film materials for gravitational wave science.

CoMET’s mission is to produce high-quality research samples under highly controlled deposition conditions to enable the study of new amorphous coating materials

As part of this infrastructure, I-Photonics UAB delivered a customized Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) system, designed specifically for high-uniformity, high-purity, multimaterial deposition.

The system enables:
• Multimaterial deposition with compositional control (up to 4 targets)
• High vacuum below 1 × 10⁻⁷ mbar
• Uniformity better than 0.5% on 100 mm substrates
• Substrate heating up to 700°C
• Integration of advanced in-situ diagnostics (ellipsometry, RGA, optical emission monitoring, optical thickness monitoring)

CoMET is funded by INFN and co-funded by the Università degli Studi di Padova, and it operates within a strong regional thin-film ecosystem that includes advanced characterization facilities across physics, chemistry, and engineering departments

For us, this project represents more than equipment delivery.

It demonstrates how industry and research institutions can collaborate to build precision coating platforms that support fundamental science — where nanometer-level control, compositional stability, and reproducibility are not optional, but mission-critical.

We are proud to support Europe’s gravitational wave research infrastructure with advanced thin-film technology.

If you are also working on:
• Hi-end optical coatings
• High-stability thin films
• Advanced coating platforms
• Multimaterial deposition challenges

Let’s connect!