AURORA platform

Vertical Inline Vacuum systems for large scale mass production
AURORA inline platform is based on magnetron sputtering technology with its modification for high throughput production of conveyor type.
The main distinguishing feature is the substrate loading design in vertical position. The substrates are loaded on the transport carrier that moves along all the coater passing through all steps of the vacuum load-locks and process corridors with the possibility to turn back or shift to another chamber or go back to atmosphere for the unloading of the coated substrates.

Advantages
This solution has the following advantages:
   - space saving regarding footprint
   - possibility to organize in-vacuum return track and use it for technology devices
   - possibility to make double side coating
   - low particles sputtering system configuration
   - longer MTBM (mean time between maintenance)
   - process stability due to constant vacuum, working gas conditions

Classification by size
By coating area size classification AURORA platform has the following options:
   - GEN 4.5 with coating area 650x1200 mm
   - GEN 5 with coating area 1100x1300 mm
   - GEN 6 with coating area 1500x1850 mm
   - GEN 8 with coating area 2200x2500 mm

Productivity
Together with the coating area size the main parameter that define productivity is cycle time (or tact time like in conveyor production). It is the time between unloading and loading transport carriers with coated substrates.
For Aurora platform the shortest cycle time is from 45 sec.

Available coating processes
The modular structure allows to produce various film layers (quantity of layers) with different cycle times by the installation of additional chambers with sputtering stations mounted on.
The main process realized on AURORA coaters:
   - ITO and other TCO structures
   - Index Match ITO for touch industry
   - Antireflection coating on cover glass (AR)
   - AR plus anti fingerprint coatings (AR+AF)
   - NCVM color coating on glass and plastic substrates (PET)
   - Metalization coating

Process stability
One of the main advantages of our INLINE coaters is the outstanding process stability. Along with standardized parameters as well defined and controlled cylindrical magnetron sputtering stations I-Photonics reached its outstanding process stability by designing the transport system which moves the carriers with a ZERO GAP between each carrier when they reach the sputtering stations. This solution helped to consistently stabilize the conditions of the plasma and make the reactive sputtering process reliable and repeatable for high quality anti reflection coating.


Know-how
Resulting from several years of R&D in inline  AR+AF processes made us develop an inline coater with outstanding wear  resistance coating parameters  in the market.

AURORA coaters are available in two different designs:
- AURORA - V with vertical substrate loading
- AURORA - I with tilted substrate loading (substrate is loaded with 7° angle to vertical axis)

For details about configuration please see description for each model and contact us.