Large Area Coatings
A key factor in driving down the cost of production is highly correlated to the throughput or scale of production. In thin film processes the substrate width or total area being processed per batch or per substrate is the key metric. Scaling up to High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) has enabled tremendous cost reduction in the production of Architectural Glass, Flat Panel Displays, Solar Cells, and Roll-to-Roll polymers. For example, architectural glass coaters are now operating with substrates that are 3m x 6m in size or larger.
Scalability comes with unique challenges. To operate a plant at HVM scales, the process must be stable over long operation time and reproducible, capable of depositing or etching materials homogeneously over large areas and at high rates. Film properties (such as stoichiometry, stress, or conductivity) must be precisely controlled to achieve performance as in a lab scale environment. This is true across all types of coatings whether they are used for optics, barriers, scratch resistance, or transparent conductors to name a few. Furthermore, complex decisions involve inversely proportional factors of Capital Expenditures (CapEx) versus Cost of Ownership (CoO). Further factors include facility constraints and requirements and product yield.
The Large Area Coating Session is the forum where scholars and industry experts present the scalability of thin film vacuum science. The talks may cover the limitations, challenges, failures, and success of moving from lab scale or pilot production up to High Volume Manufacturing. Session topics will cover:
- Scale-up and process Transfer: challenges and good practices,
- Understanding process and nanoscale: Physics and chemistry of thin films and their interfaces, analytical equipment in-/ex-situ, in-/off-line,
- Coating of 3D substrates: enabling technologies,
- Functional coatings at temperature sensitive plastic substrates or thin glass: hard coating, barrier properties, adhesion, and stress management,
- Architectural, Automotive, Aerospace, and Display thin film materials, processes, equipment for heat reflecting, hydrophobic/hydrophilic, de-icing, and anti-static functions,
- New Large Area Trends and Solutions: coatings for semiconductor industry at glass, patterned or integrated structures for bird friendly glass, mobile signal transmission, sound insulation,
- “Low-carbon footprint coatings” and required technologies for inside/outside of vacuum, and
- Automation of coating processes, as well as assisting tools: physical vs statistical models, ML, AI.
Large Area Coatings TAC Chair: Ken Nauman, SCI/Bühler, knauman@sputteringcomponents.com; Assistant TAC Chairs: Marcus Frank, Bühler Group, marcus.frank@buhlergroup.com; Brent Boyce, Guardian Industries Corp., bboyce@guardian.com; Aneliia Wäckerlin, Glas Trösch AG; a.waeckerlin@glastroesch.ch; Kyle Schuberg, Gentex, kyle.schuberg@gentex.com