Beneq Roll to Roll Atomic Layer Deposition Tool
CPI offers a roll to roll atomic layer deposition (ALD) tool which is capable of handling films up to 600mm wide with thicknesses ranging from 20 – 200 µm and can produce an active coat width of 480mm.
The tool is capable of handling roll of film with diameters of up to 300mm on 3inch & 6inch cores. Precise web control can be achieved at speed between 0.03 – 20 m/min.
The roll-to-roll atomic-layer deposition tool has recently undergone a major upgrade which has involved the design and installation of an additional vacuum (side-) chamber to the existing equipment. The new side-chamber enables in-situ processing of the thin film substrates which can then be used for developmental work. Now, while laying down an impermeable barrier using the ALD tool we can also add both front and back polymer coatings that are thin, optically transparent and flexible for improved robustness and surface properties.
ALD is applied as a specialist barrier coating technique used for the protection of optoelectronic devices and is being utilised by CPI to add moisture ultra-barrier protection layers to flexible polymer substrates used to produce optoelectronic devices using sensitive active electronic materials. Thin films produced using the ALD method are cost efficient, defect free and completely conformal, thus providing superior barriers and surface passivation compared with other deposition techniques. These properties make them ideal for numerous kinds of critical applications that utilise flexible films such as Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), flexible display screens, photovoltaic cells and wearable electronics to name but a few. Current commercial barrier films, based on multilayer laminates are typically prohibitively expensive for large area applications while single thin layer barrier structures from ALD deposition have demonstrated the potential to reduce this cost significantly whilst retaining the requisite barrier and flexibility properties.
