Vacuum Coating: The Hidden Backbone of Modern Industry

Vacuum coating machines are hailed as the "crown jewel of industry." Their applications have long transcended traditional decorative coating and now reach deep into high-end manufacturing sectors such as semiconductors, new energy, and aerospace. As global manufacturing shifts toward precision and sustainability, these machines have become indispensable core equipment across multiple industrial chains.

Semiconductors and Integrated Circuits: One of the Three Core Equipment Categories in Chip Manufacturing

In chip fabrication, vacuum coating equipment, together with lithography machines and etching machines, is known as one of the three core equipment categories. Wafer fabrication requires the deposition of gate dielectric layers and metal interconnect barrier layers, with linewidths now refined to just a few nanometers. In advanced packaging, redistribution layers and under-bump metallization are fabricated via magnetron sputtering to enable high-speed interconnects between chips.

Precision Optics and Displays: Determining the "Vision" and "Image Quality" of Devices

Smartphone cameras, AR glasses optical waveguides, and automotive LiDAR windows all require anti-reflective and anti-fingerprint coatings. In the display sector, LED chip electrode deposition, OLED organic light-emitting layer evaporation, and ITO transparent conductive films on LCD panels directly determine screen brightness and uniformity.

New Energy and Green Energy Saving: A Key Driver of Carbon Neutrality

In photovoltaics, heterojunction and perovskite cells use physical vapor deposition to deposit transparent and back electrodes, improving photoelectric conversion efficiency. Low-E films on architectural energy-saving glass reflect infrared radiation for insulation while maintaining high light transmittance. Composite copper foil, an emerging solution for lithium battery current collectors, reduces battery weight and improves safety.

Tooling, Molds, and Aerospace: Pushing Performance Limits

After depositing TiAlN or AlCrN superhard coatings, cutting tools and precision molds can achieve hardness above HV 3000 and extend service life by 5 to 10 times. Thermal barrier coatings and oxidation-resistant bond coatings on aircraft engine turbine blades provide 100–200°C of thermal insulation protection.

Food, Pharmaceuticals, and Everyday Applications: An "Invisible Technology" Close to Daily Life

The silver barrier layer inside potato chip packaging is a product of flexible packaging aluminization technology, effectively blocking oxygen and moisture to greatly extend shelf life. Medical devices such as surgical blades and bone screws are coated with biocompatible titanium or antibacterial silver layers to reduce rejection and infection risks. In daily hardware, faucets and smartwatch bezels achieve colors like rose gold and gun black through vacuum coating, with wear resistance far exceeding traditional electroplating.

Industry Trends: Process Route Determines Application Direction