Historical Development of vacuum coating technology

Historical Development of vacuum coating technology
In the film prepared in vacuo, crystalline coating system comprising a metal, semiconductor, insulator and other elemental or compound film. Although the chemical vapor deposition also uses vacuum, low pressure or vacuum plasma and other means, but generally refers to a physical vacuum deposition method for depositing a thin film. Vacuum coating has three forms, namely vapor deposition, sputtering and ion plating.
Vacuum coating technology is now beginning in the 1930s, forties and fifties began industrial applications, industrial mass production began in the 1980s, has made a wide range of applications in the electronics, aerospace, packaging, decoration, gilt printing and other industries. Vacuum coating means in a vacuum environment, a metal or metal compound vapor is deposited onto the surface of the material in the form of (usually non-metallic material), is a physical vapor deposition process. Because often the metal film coating, it is also called vacuum metallization.
Generalized vacuum coating further comprises a metal or non-metallic materials and other non-metallic surface of the vacuum vapor deposition polymer functional film. In all plating material to the plastic is most common, followed by, for paper coating. Relative to metals, ceramics, wood and other materials, plastics have sufficient sources of performance is easy to control, easy processing and other advantages, so a wide variety of plastic or other polymer materials as structural engineering decorative materials, widely used in automobiles, household appliances, household packaging, decorative and other industrial fields. However, the presence of surface hardness of plastic materials are mostly not high enough to look gorgeous, abrasion and low defects, such as the plastic surface layer deposited thin metal film can be given away plastic bright metallic appearance, suitable metal source also can greatly increase the wear resistance of the material surface, greatly expanded the scope and application of decorative plastic.