A deposition system is provided for guiding a flexible substrate along a deposition path. The deposition system includes a payout hub for unwinding the flexible substrate; a pickup hub for winding the flexible substrate; one or more evaporation sources (300); one or more electrodes (510) spaced apart from the one or more evaporation sources in a first direction; one or more measurement devices (550); and a controller (601) configured to adjust one or more voltages provided to the one more electrodes.

Provided is a vacuum coating device, comprising a crucible (13), an induction heater (15) arranged on the outer side of the crucible (13); a flow distribution box connected to the top of the crucible (13) through a steam pipeline (16); a pressure regulating valve (18) and a diverter valve (19) sequentially arranged in a direction in which the steam pipeline (16) is in communication with the flow distribution box; a horizontal pressure stabilizing plate (20) arranged in the flow distribution box, a plurality of sub-nozzles (21) connected to the top of the flow distribution box; wherein a plurality of air flow distribution chambers are arranged in the diverter valve (19); a ratio of a total area of the air flow distribution chambers (S.sub.distribution) to an area of the steam pipeline (16) in the radial direction (S.sub.pipeline) is greater than or equal to 0.1, i.e.: S.sub.diversion/S.sub.pipeline≥0.1. According to the device, a uniform spray flow can be formed, a uniform coating (23) is formed on the surface of a steel plate (100) when high temperature steam is in contact with a low temperature steel plate, the spray flow formed by the sub-nozzles (21) arranged at the rear portion continuously covers the deposited metal layer that has been formed, so as to achieve efficient coating of strip steel under vacuum conditions.

A roller for transporting a flexible substrate is described. The roller includes a main body having a plurality of gas supply slits provided in an outer surface of the main body. The plurality of gas supply slits extends in a direction of a central rotation axis of the roller. Further, the roller includes a sleeve provided circumferentially around and in contact with the main body. The sleeve has a plurality of gas outlets being provided above the plurality of gas supply slits. Further, the sleeve includes a metal layer embedded within isolating material.

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 substrate coated with at least one metal on both sides of the substrate having an average thickness, wherein the coating is deposited homogenously such that the maximum thickness of the coating can exceed the average thickness of 15% maximum. A vacuum deposition facility also is provided.

Various embodiments herein relate to carriers for supporting one or more substrate as the substrates are passed through a processing apparatus. In many cases, the substrates are oriented in a vertical manner. The carrier may include a frame and vertical support bars that secure the glass to the frame. The carrier may lack horizontal support bars. The carrier may allow for thermal expansion and contraction of the substrates, without any need to provide precise gaps between adjacent pairs of substrates. The carriers described herein substantially reduce the risk of breaking the processing apparatus and substrates, thereby achieving a more efficient process. Certain embodiments herein relate to methods of loading substrates onto a carrier.

A method comprises: forming a first layer stack on a first substrate by means of a multiplicity of coating processes, each coating process of which forms at least one layer of the first layer stack; detecting an optical spectrum of the first layer stack; determining correction information for at least one coating process of the multiplicity of coating processes using a model, wherein the model provides a right-unique mapping function between a deviation of the spectrum from a desired spectrum and the correction information; and changing at least one control parameter for controlling the at least one coating process of the multiplicity of coating processes using the correction information; and forming a second layer stack on the first or a second substrate by means of the multiplicity of coating processes using the changed control parameter, each coating process of which forms at least one layer of the second layer stack.

The present invention discloses a vacuum coating device, comprising: a crucible; an induction heater provided on the periphery of the crucible; a flow distribution box connected to the top of said crucible via a steam pipe. Wherein said flow distribution box is provided inside with a horizontal pressure stabilizing plate, said flow distribution box is connected on the top with a nozzle, said steam pipe is provided with a pressure regulating valve, and said pressure stabilizing plate has a multi-hole structure. The lower surface of said pressure stabilizing plate is connected to a horizontal flow suppression plate, and a space is formed between the side of said flow suppression plate and the inner wall of said flow distribution box. A jet moderating zone is formed between the joint where said flow distribution box and said steam pipe are connected and the lower surface of said pressure stabilizing plate, and a jet accelerating zone is formed between the upper surface of said pressure stabilizing plate and the joint where said flow distribution box and said nozzle are connected. When the high-temperature steam reaches the low-temperature steel plate, a uniform coating can be formed on the steel plate surface.

A steel sheet is provided with a coating having at least one layer of zinc and a top layer of paint applied by cataphoresis. The zinc layer is deposited by a jet vapor deposition process in a deposition chamber maintained at a pressure between 6.Math.10.sup.−2 mbar and 2.Math.10.sup.−1 mbar. A fabrication method and an installation are also provided.

A material deposition apparatus for depositing an evaporated material onto a substrate is provided. The material deposition apparatus includes a processing drum having a cooler configured to control a substrate temperature during processing of a substrate on the processing drum; a roller guiding the substrate towards the processing drum; a first heater assembly positioned to heat the substrate in a free-span area between the roller and the processing drum; a second heater assembly positioned to heat the substrate while being supported on the processing drum; at least one deposition source provided along a substrate transport path downstream of the second heater assembly; a substrate speed sensor providing a speed signal correlating with a substrate transportation speed; and a controller having an input for the speed signal configured to control at least the first heater assembly.

A system and method are provided for implementing a unique scheme by which to execute digital vapor phase patterning on metals, semiconductor substrates and other surfaces using a proposed variable data digital lithographic image forming architecture or technique. For certain substrate printing and manufacturing applications, including some printed electronics applications, the disclosed schemes implement techniques to digitally pattern metal layers with bulk material properties in a manner that is aligned with underlying layers on the fly. The disclosed digital printing process may pattern a release oil on a substrate in support of a metal deposition process. Changeable patterning is implemented with an ability to modify the alignment of the patterns on-the-fly. The release layer on a drum is laser patterned in order that the patterned release layer is transferred to the substrate, or the patterning of the release layer is accomplished directly on the substrate.