E-beam applies reflective coatings to film.A maker of thin-film vacuum deposition Vacuum deposition is a process used to create a thin layer of a substance (a coating) on a solid object (the substrate). The substrate is placed into a vacuum chamber and a small amount of the coating material is vaporized into the chamber. equipment for applying metals to rigid and flexible substrates won the top technical innovation award at the 2005 biennial International Converting Exhibition (ICE) in Munich, Germany. Applied Films GmbH, Alzenau, Germany won the award for a system that can apply reflective coatings onto PET film at economical speeds. The company uses its Topbeam 1100 electron-beam evaporation evaporation, change of a liquid into vapor at any temperature below its boiling point. For example, water, when placed in a shallow open container exposed to air, gradually disappears, evaporating at a rate that depends on the amount of surface exposed, the humidity system to apply color-shifting reflective layers onto plastic film in a vacuum chamber. Production rates are 20 times higher than standard sputter coating Sputter coating in microscopy is a process of covering a specimen with a very thin layer of heavy metal, generally a gold/palladium (Au/Pd) mixture. This coating increases the ability of a specimen to conduct electricity and emit secondary electrons when in a scanning electron , the company says--up to 20 meters/min vs. less than 1 meter/min for sputtering A popular method for adhering thin films onto a substrate. Sputtering is done by bombarding a target material with a charged gas (typically argon) which releases atoms in the target that coats the nearby substrate. It all takes place inside a magnetron vacuum chamber under low pressure. such a multilayer coating. The reflective coating is a so-called Fabry Perot filter, which changes color when viewed from different angles. It consists of three layers: a thick aluminum base, which acts as a mirror; a transparent mid-layer of aluminum oxide aluminum oxide: see alumina. , which reflects different colors depending on thickness; and a top semi-transparent aluminum layer. Optical properties of the middle layer are controlled by measuring the reflected light spectra with Applied Film's Escosys and Optoplex systems and changing the E-beam evaporation accordingly. Reflective films are used for security labels and decorative packaging. Tel: +49 (6023) 926-0000 * www.appliedfilms.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion