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2002
Journal Article
Titel
Coating of large areas by plasma activated electron beam PVD technologies
Abstract
PVD coatings deposited by electron beam (EB) evaporation onto large area substrates like metal sheets and strips or plastic webs have been discussed and used for many years. Recently developed plasma activated technologies open new chances for an extensive application of PVD. The properties of conventional products can be essentially improved by plasma activated EBPVD. High-rate evaporation, especially by electron beams generated with axial guns, is the most useful PVD process for low cost coating onto large areas. It could be verified that the deposition cost acceptable in most cases and lower than that of competitive technologies. The combination of evaporation with powerful plasma gives the possibility to influence the layer properties in a wide range. In the paper an overview about such emergent PVD technologies will be presented. The influence of the plasma parameters on the layer properties was investigated and will be demonstrated for some special applications. The new coating technologies and the necessary equipment will be depicted. An outlook will be given on economical aspects and practicable possibilities of use. BY use of all available knowledge the Fraunhofer-Institut fur Elektronenstrahl- und Plasmatechnik (FEP), Dresden. has installed a new research and pilot equipment for the in-line deposition of plates and metallic strips - the so called "MAXI". The paper gives a description of this new equipment and outlines its capabilities.