Metallisation - technology
The surface metallisation technology comprises several stages which are carefully selected depending on the respective substrate and coating material as well as on the requirement profile. The use of a primer is recommended for many substrate materials so as to improve the coating adhesion.
The parts to be coated are fixed on a rotary cage in the vacuum chamber. They rotate around the evaporator unit once or several times if they are borne by so-called planetary wheels during the deposition process. Partial areas not to be metallised are masked.
After closing the vacuum chamber the plant is evacuated to a pressure of approx. 1 to 5 x 10-4 mbar. Coating is mostly preceded by treating the parts in a glow plasma which is ignited in the fine vacuum range of approx. 2 to 8 x 10-2. The coating material is usually evaporised by resistance-heated sources (helical filament / boat).
Metals such as Al, Cu, CrNi, Sn, Ag, Au, though also compounds such as ZnS, MgF2 and SiOx can be used as material to be evaporated. In addition to resistance-heated sources, magnetron sputter sources are available for the deposition of metals such as Al, Cu and particularly stainless steel and chromium. These sources are mainly employed in short-cycle systems.
The typical film thickness ranges from 50 nanometres (0.00005 mm) to several micrometres as with electro-magnetic shielding coatings (EMC), for example, depending on the application.
The deposited coating can be protected against mechanical damage or oxidation with a HMDS polymer coating by plasma polymerisation. In addition to this vacuum procedure, lacquers are also used as a protective coating in practice.
The different metallisation coatings are employed in the following fields:
Downloads:
The parts to be coated are fixed on a rotary cage in the vacuum chamber. They rotate around the evaporator unit once or several times if they are borne by so-called planetary wheels during the deposition process. Partial areas not to be metallised are masked.
After closing the vacuum chamber the plant is evacuated to a pressure of approx. 1 to 5 x 10-4 mbar. Coating is mostly preceded by treating the parts in a glow plasma which is ignited in the fine vacuum range of approx. 2 to 8 x 10-2. The coating material is usually evaporised by resistance-heated sources (helical filament / boat).
The typical film thickness ranges from 50 nanometres (0.00005 mm) to several micrometres as with electro-magnetic shielding coatings (EMC), for example, depending on the application.
The deposited coating can be protected against mechanical damage or oxidation with a HMDS polymer coating by plasma polymerisation. In addition to this vacuum procedure, lacquers are also used as a protective coating in practice.
The different metallisation coatings are employed in the following fields:
Al coating
Mirrors, luminaires, reflectors, louvers, packaging film, jewellery, toys, fittings, sanitary appliances. A subsequent treatment with a colourless or coloured transparent lacquer enhances the usability.
Al coating with a smudge-proof protective layer (HMDS)
Vehicle headlamps, lighting, optical components
Cu and Al coating
EMC coating on electrical, electronic, communication components
Ni-Cr and Sn coating
Protective layer for Cu EMC coating, decorative metal coating (Ni-Cr)
Au and Ag coating
Mirrors for optical applications, protective layer for a Cu coating or decorative coating for fashion and jewellery articles, household items and articles of everyday use, decorative parts, trims in automotive and sanitary engineering
MgF2 coating
Protective layer for aluminium; hydrophilic (SiO) coating (wettability) in automotive or lighting engineering
Downloads:
EMC vacuum metallisation [ 
information sheet ]
Metallisation of surfaces in vacuum [ information sheet ]
information sheet ]Metallisation of surfaces in vacuum [
information sheet ]