Vacuum deposition facility and method for coating a substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12091744-B2
Application number	US-201916973114-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2019
Priority date	Jun 13, 2018
Publication date	Sep 17, 2024
Grant date	Sep 17, 2024

Abstract

A method for continuously depositing, on a running substrate, coatings formed from at least one metal inside a Vacuum deposition facility including a vacuum chamber, a coated substrate coated with at least one metal on both sides of the substrate and a vacuum deposition facility.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for continuously depositing, on a running substrate, coatings formed from at least one metal inside a vacuum deposition facility including a vacuum chamber, the method comprising the steps of:
ejecting, in the vacuum chamber, a metallic vapor through at least two vapor ejectors, towards both sides of the running substrate, a layer of at least one metal being formed on each side by condensation of ejected vapors, the at least two vapor ejectors facing each other being positioned respectively with an angle α and α′ between the vapor ejector and an axis perpendicular to a running direction of the substrate, the axis being in the plane of the substrate, α and α′ both satisfying the following equations:

α
=

arccos
⁡
(

W
⁢
s

-

(

D
⁢
1

+

D
⁢
2

)

W
⁢
e

)

⁢

with
⁢

0
⁢
°

<
α
<

82
⁢
°
⁢

and

α
′

=

arccos
⁡
(

W
⁢
s

-

(

D
⁢
1

+

D
⁢
2

)

W
⁢
e

)

⁢

with
⁢

0
⁢
°

<

α
′

<

82
⁢
°

,

D 1 and D 2 being the distance between the ejectors and each substrate edge along the axis, W s being the substrate width, the vapor ejectors having an elongated shape and including a slot defined by a slot width We, the vapor ejectors having a same rotation axis.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the distance between the ejector and the substrate edges D 1 and D 2 are above 0 mm so ejector edges do not go beyond the substrate edges.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein D 1 and D 2 are equal to 0 mm so the substrate edges are in a same plane as ejector edges.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein D 1 and D 2 are below 0 mm so ejector edges extend beyond the substrate edges.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the substrate width Ws is maximum of 2200 mm.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein Ws is minimum of 200 mm.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein α′ is such that α-α′<10° in absolute terms.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 wherein α is between 0 and 60° in absolute terms.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein α is between 10 and 50° in absolute terms.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein α is between 20 and 350 in absolute terms.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the ejectors have a rectangular shape or a trapezoidal shape.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein D 1 is identical to D 2 .

13. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the vacuum chamber further comprises a central casing surrounding the substrate, the central casing including a substrate entry and a substrate exit located on two opposite sides of the central casing and the at the least two vapor ejectors.

14. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein inner walls of the central casing are suited to be heated at a temperature above a condensation temperature of the metal or metal alloy vapors.

15. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the at least two vapor ejectors eject metallic vapors at sonic speed on both sides of the running substrate.

16. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the at least two vapor ejectors eject metallic vapors at sonic speed on both sides of the running substrate.

Assignees

• Arcelormittal

Inventors

• Silberberg Eric
• Rabelo Nunes Campos Thiago
• Gilani Negar

Classifications

• C23C14/24

  Vacuum evaporation · CPC title

• C23C14/16 Primary

  on metallic substrates or on substrates of boron or silicon · CPC title

• C23C14/04 Primary

  Coating on selected surface areas, e.g. using masks · CPC title

• C23C14/562 Primary

  for coating elongated substrates · CPC title

• C23C14/34

  Sputtering · CPC title