阅读说明：本技术 一种连续型真空镀膜生产设备及其生产方法 (Continuous vacuum coating production equipment and production method thereof ) 是由 陈牧 于 2020-04-14 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供了一种连续型真空镀膜生产设备及其生产方法,所述生产设备包括：多个依次呈直线型连接的镀膜工艺腔室、至少一套传输装置和至少一套控制装置；所述运输装置用于运输基材依次通过各个镀膜工艺腔室；控制装置用于按照预设控制程序控制所述传输装置在各个镀膜工艺腔室之间移动,以及按照制程控制所述多个镀膜工艺腔室对传输至其腔室内的基材进行镀膜。本实施例通过将各个镀膜工艺腔室设计为直线型结构连接,用于固态超薄锂电池、变色调光玻璃等产品的一次性真空成型,以及用于各个镀膜工艺腔室的模块化增/减/调换顺序的设计,因此本发明所提供的生产设备及其生产方法可取得较佳的功能薄膜产品一致性、重复性和稳定性。(The invention provides a continuous vacuum coating production device and a production method thereof, wherein the production device comprises: the coating device comprises a plurality of coating process chambers, at least one set of transmission device and at least one set of control device which are connected in a linear manner in sequence; the conveying device is used for conveying the base materials to sequentially pass through each coating process chamber; the control device is used for controlling the transmission device to move among the coating process chambers according to a preset control program and controlling the coating process chambers to coat the base materials transmitted into the chambers according to the manufacturing procedures. In the embodiment, each coating process chamber is designed to be connected in a linear structure, so that the coating process chamber is used for one-time vacuum forming of products such as solid ultrathin lithium batteries and color-changing dimming glass, and is used for modular increasing/decreasing/changing sequence design of each coating process chamber, and therefore, the production equipment and the production method thereof provided by the invention can obtain better consistency, repeatability and stability of functional thin film products.)

1. A continuous type vacuum coating production apparatus, characterized by comprising:

a plurality of coating process chambers which are connected in a linear manner in sequence; each coating process chamber is arranged in vacuum and used for heating and/or coating the base material transported into the chamber by adopting a coating process;

at least one conveying device for conveying the substrate to sequentially pass through each coating process chamber;

and the control device is electrically connected with the transmission device and used for controlling the transmission device to move among the coating process chambers according to a preset transportation control process and coating the base material transmitted into each coating process chamber according to the production control process.

2. A continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of coating process chambers connected in a line include a first deposition film chamber, a heat treatment chamber, a second deposition film chamber, and a third deposition film chamber;

the first deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery anode on the surface of the substrate;

the heat treatment chamber is used for carrying out heat treatment on the base material input into the heat treatment chamber according to a preset temperature value;

the second deposition film chamber; for depositing a thin film layer as a battery electrolyte on a substrate;

and the third deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery negative electrode current collector on the substrate.

3. A continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a fourth deposition film chamber is further provided between the second deposition film chamber and the third deposition film chamber;

the fourth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery cathode on the base material.

4. A continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a fifth deposition film chamber is connected after the third deposition film chamber;

and the fifth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery sealing coating layer on the substrate.

5. The continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a sixth deposition film chamber is connected in front of the first deposition film chamber;

and the sixth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a current collector of the positive electrode of the battery on the substrate.

6. A continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a vacuum loading chamber is further arranged in front of the first deposited film chamber, and a vacuum unloading chamber is further connected behind the sixth deposited film chamber; or a vacuum blanking chamber is arranged in front of the first deposition film chamber, and a vacuum feeding chamber is connected behind the sixth deposition film chamber.

7. A continuous vacuum coating production facility according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein each coating process chamber is provided with a vacuum coating system, a vacuum pumping system, a vacuum measuring system, a film in-situ monitoring system, a heating system, and a mask system;

the vacuum coating system is used for carrying out deposition coating on the base material conveyed into the chamber by using the deposition source;

the vacuum-pumping system is used for pumping the gas in the cavity so as to enable the cavity to be in a vacuum state;

the vacuum measurement system is used for detecting whether the chamber is in a vacuum state;

the film in-situ detection system is used for detecting the film coating parameters of the film layer during deposition and film coating;

the heating system is used for heating the coating film in the chamber according to a preset set temperature;

the mask system is used for being attached to the surface of the base material, so that a mask plate pattern is formed on the surface of the base material.

8. A continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of coating process chambers connected in a line in sequence include a first deposition film chamber, a second deposition film chamber, a heat treatment chamber, a third deposition film chamber, a fourth deposition film chamber, and a fifth deposition film chamber;

the first deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass transparent conductive current collector on a substrate;

the second deposition film chamber; a thin film layer for depositing a glass tinting layer on a substrate;

the heat treatment chamber is used for carrying out vacuum heat treatment on the base material transmitted into the chamber according to a preset temperature value;

the third deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer as a glass electrolyte on the substrate;

the fourth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass ion storage layer on the substrate;

and the fifth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a transparent current collector of the glass ion storage layer on the substrate.

9. The continuous vacuum coating production device according to claim 8, wherein a vacuum loading chamber is further arranged in front of the first deposition film chamber, and a vacuum unloading chamber is further connected behind the fifth deposition film chamber, or a vacuum unloading chamber is further arranged in front of the first deposition film chamber, and a vacuum loading chamber is further connected behind the fifth deposition film chamber.

10. A continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a pre-treatment chamber is further provided between the vacuum loading chamber and the first deposited film chamber;

the pretreatment chamber is used for pretreating the substrate input into the chamber; wherein the pretreatment comprises ion bombardment on the surface of the base material, and cleaning and activating of plasma.

11. A continuous vacuum coating production apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein a sixth deposition film chamber is connected after the fifth deposition film chamber;

and the sixth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass antireflection layer.

12. A production method of a continuous vacuum coating is characterized by comprising the following steps of;

connecting a plurality of coating process chambers in a linear manner in sequence; wherein each coating process chamber is arranged in vacuum;

the control device controls the transmission device to transport the base materials at preset time intervals to sequentially pass through each coating process chamber, and controls the coating process chambers to coat the base materials transported into the chambers according to a production control process.

13. The continuous vacuum coating production method according to claim 12, wherein the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate through each coating process chamber at a predetermined time interval by the control device, and the step of controlling the coating process chamber to coat the substrate transported into the chamber according to the production control process comprises:

controlling the conveying device to convey the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, depositing a film layer serving as a battery anode on the substrate by using a deposition source, and conveying the substrate subjected to the deposition of the battery anode to the heat treatment chamber;

controlling the substrate deposited with the battery anode to be subjected to heat treatment in the heat treatment chamber, and transferring the substrate subjected to heat treatment to a second deposited film chamber;

controlling to deposit a thin film layer as an electrolyte on the substrate deposited with the battery anode in the second deposition film chamber and to transfer the deposited substrate to a third deposition film chamber;

and controlling to deposit a film layer serving as a negative current collector on the substrate deposited with the battery anode and the electrolyte in the third deposition film chamber, and outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the film lithium battery.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate into the first deposition film chamber further comprises:

controlling a transmission device to transport the substrate to a vacuum loading chamber, and inputting the substrate into the first deposition film chamber through the vacuum loading chamber;

the step of outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the thin film lithium battery further comprises:

and conveying the substrate on which the negative current collector is deposited to a vacuum blanking chamber, and outputting the substrate through the vacuum blanking chamber to obtain the film lithium battery with the finished film coating.

15. A continuous vacuum coating production method according to claim 14, wherein the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate to a vacuum loading chamber, and the step of transferring the substrate into the first deposition film chamber via the vacuum loading chamber comprises:

controlling the base material to be input into the pretreatment chamber through the vacuum feeding chamber;

inputting the base material into the sixth deposition film chamber after the base material is pretreated by the pretreatment chamber;

and controlling the thin film layer deposited on the surface of the substrate in the sixth deposited film chamber to be used as a positive current collector and then transmitting the thin film layer to the first deposited film chamber.

16. The continuous vacuum coating production method according to claim 12, wherein the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate through each coating process chamber at a predetermined time interval by the control device, and the step of controlling the coating process chamber to coat the substrate transported into the chamber according to the production control process comprises:

controlling the transmission device to transmit the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, depositing a film layer serving as a glass conductive current collector on the surface of the substrate by using a deposition source, and transmitting the deposited substrate to the second deposition film chamber;

controlling to deposit a film layer as a color-changing layer on the substrate deposited with the glass conductive current collector in the second deposition film chamber, and transferring the deposited substrate to a heat treatment chamber;

controlling the substrate to be subjected to heat treatment in the heat treatment chamber, and transferring the substrate subjected to heat treatment to a third deposition film chamber;

controlling the deposition of a thin film layer as an electrolyte on a substrate in the third deposition film chamber and controlling the transfer of the deposited substrate to a fourth deposition film chamber;

controlling the deposition of a thin film layer as an ion storage layer on the substrate in the fourth deposition film chamber, and transferring the deposited substrate to a fifth deposition film chamber;

and controlling to deposit a film layer serving as an ion storage layer current collector on the substrate in the fifth deposition film chamber, and outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the deposited electrochromic glass.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate into the first deposition film chamber further comprises:

controlling a transmission device to transport the base material to a vacuum loading chamber, and transmitting the base material to a pretreatment chamber through the vacuum loading chamber;

controlling the substrate surface to be pretreated in the pretreatment chamber and then to be conveyed into the first deposition film chamber;

before the step of outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the deposited electrochromic glass, the method further comprises the following steps:

and transferring the base material subjected to deposition of the thin film layer serving as the current collector of the ion storage layer into a vacuum blanking chamber, and outputting the base material through the vacuum blanking chamber to obtain the electrochromic glass subjected to deposition.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of all-solid-state lithium batteries, color-changing glass and vacuum coating, in particular to continuous vacuum coating production equipment and a production method thereof.

Background

The continuous coating system is widely applied to production of liquid crystal displays, touch screens, building curtain wall glass and the like, and is mainly characterized in that large-area plate glass is adopted for coating, flow line continuous production is realized, and the uniformity and the component consistency of the film are good.

A new battery product in recent years, namely an all-solid-state thin-film lithium battery, has the characteristics of high energy density, long cycle life, high safety and the like, becomes one of important substitution schemes of the next generation of lithium ion batteries, and is applied to smart cards, chips, flexible wearable equipment and medical health equipment.

The other new product, electrochromic glass, has the functions of realizing continuous adjustability (1-65%) of the glass transmittance in the visible light and infrared light ranges by adjusting the voltage, realizing the color change of the glass in a humanized manner, solving the problem of high energy consumption of the building curtain wall glass and being the next generation of building curtain wall glass.

In the manufacturing process of all-solid-state thin-film lithium batteries and electrochromic glass, a cluster type (cluster) film coating scheme in the semiconductor industry is adopted in the early stage: the coating method comprises the steps of static coating, namely, coating process chambers are transmitted around a substrate, vacuum robots are arranged in an annular mode, the substrate is sequentially conveyed into different vacuum chambers through the robots, the substrate keeps in a static state (capable of rotating by rotation) in situ after entering the coating chambers, the coating adopts modes of magnetron sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, evaporation and the like, a planned film is deposited on the substrate, and after the coating step is completed, the robot transmits the substrate to the next chamber to perform coating of different materials. The cluster structure has low working efficiency, is only used for research and development, cannot realize continuous and large-scale mass production, and limits the development of the industry.

Therefore, the prior art is subject to further improvement.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the defects in the prior art, the invention aims to provide a continuous vacuum coating production device and a production method thereof for users, and overcomes the defects of low working efficiency, incapability of realizing continuity and large-scale production due to the use of an annular cluster structure in the existing manufacturing process.

The technical scheme adopted by the invention for solving the technical problem is as follows:

in a first aspect, the present embodiment provides a continuous vacuum coating production apparatus, including:

a plurality of coating process chambers which are connected in a linear manner in sequence; each coating process chamber is arranged in vacuum and used for heating and/or coating the base material transported into the chamber by adopting a coating process;

at least one conveying device for conveying the substrate to sequentially pass through each coating process chamber;

and the control device is electrically connected with the transmission device and used for controlling the transmission device to move among the coating process chambers according to a preset transportation control process and coating the base material transmitted into each coating process chamber according to the production control process.

Optionally, the plurality of coating process chambers connected in a linear manner in sequence include a first deposition film chamber, a heat treatment chamber, a second deposition film chamber and a third deposition film chamber;

the first deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery anode on the surface of the base material;

the heat treatment chamber is used for carrying out heat treatment on the base material input into the heat treatment chamber according to a preset temperature value;

the second deposition film chamber; for depositing a thin film layer as a battery electrolyte on a substrate;

and the third deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery negative electrode current collector on the substrate.

Optionally, a fourth deposition film chamber is further disposed between the second deposition film chamber and the third deposition film chamber;

the fourth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery cathode on the base material.

Optionally, a fifth deposition film chamber is further connected behind the third deposition film chamber;

and the fifth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery sealing coating layer on the substrate.

Optionally, a sixth deposition film chamber is connected before the first deposition film chamber;

and the sixth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a current collector of the positive electrode of the battery on the substrate.

Optionally, a vacuum loading chamber is further arranged in front of the first deposited film chamber, and a vacuum unloading chamber is further connected behind the sixth deposited film chamber, or a vacuum unloading chamber is further arranged in front of the first deposited film chamber, and a vacuum loading chamber is further connected behind the sixth deposited film chamber.

Optionally, a pretreatment chamber is connected behind the vacuum feeding chamber;

the pretreatment chamber is used for pretreating the substrate input into the chamber; wherein the pretreatment comprises ion bombardment on the surface of the base material, and cleaning and activating of plasma.

Optionally, a vacuum deposition system, a vacuum pumping system, a vacuum measurement system, a film in-situ detection system and a heating system are arranged in each coating process chamber;

the vacuum deposition system is used for depositing and coating the base material conveyed into the chamber by using the deposition source;

the vacuum-pumping system is used for pumping the gas in the cavity so as to enable the cavity to be in a vacuum state;

the vacuum measurement system is used for detecting whether the chamber is in a vacuum state;

the film in-situ detection system is used for detecting the film coating parameters of the film layer during deposition and film coating;

the heating system is used for heating the coating film in the chamber according to a preset set temperature;

the mask system is used for being attached to the surface of the base material, so that a mask plate pattern is formed on the surface of the base material.

Optionally, the plurality of coating process chambers connected in a linear manner in sequence include a first deposition film chamber, a second deposition film chamber, a heat treatment chamber, a third deposition film chamber, a fourth deposition film chamber and a fifth deposition film chamber;

the first deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass conductive current collector on the surface of the substrate;

the second deposition film chamber; a thin film layer for depositing a glass tinting layer on a substrate;

the heat treatment chamber is used for carrying out vacuum heat treatment on the base material transmitted into the chamber according to a preset second temperature value;

the third deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer as a glass electrolyte on the substrate;

the fourth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass ion storage layer on the substrate;

and the fifth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a current collector of the glass ion storage layer on the substrate.

Optionally, a vacuum loading chamber is further arranged in front of the first deposited film chamber, and a vacuum unloading chamber is further connected behind the fifth deposited film chamber, or a vacuum unloading chamber is further arranged in front of the first deposited film chamber, and a vacuum loading chamber is further connected behind the fifth deposited film chamber.

Optionally, a pretreatment chamber is further arranged between the vacuum loading chamber and the first deposition film chamber;

the pretreatment chamber is used for pretreating the substrate input into the chamber; wherein the pretreatment comprises ion bombardment on the surface of the base material, and cleaning and activating of plasma.

Optionally, a sixth deposition film chamber is further connected behind the fifth deposition film chamber;

and the sixth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass antireflection layer.

In a second aspect, the present embodiment provides a method for producing a continuous type vacuum plating film, comprising;

connecting a plurality of coating process chambers in a linear manner in sequence; wherein each coating process chamber is arranged in vacuum;

the control device controls the transmission device to transport the base materials at preset time intervals to sequentially pass through each coating process chamber, and controls the coating process chambers to coat the base materials transported into the chambers according to a production control process.

Optionally, the step of controlling the transmission device to transport the substrate according to the preset time interval and sequentially pass through each coating process chamber by the control device, and controlling the coating process chamber to coat the substrate transported into the chamber according to the production control process includes:

controlling the conveying device to convey the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, depositing a film layer serving as a battery anode on the surface of the substrate by using a deposition source, and conveying the substrate subjected to the deposition of the battery anode to the heat treatment chamber;

controlling the substrate deposited with the battery anode to be subjected to heat treatment in the heat treatment chamber, and transferring the substrate subjected to heat treatment to a second deposited film chamber;

controlling to deposit a thin film layer as an electrolyte on the substrate deposited with the battery anode in the second deposition film chamber and to transfer the deposited substrate to a third deposition film chamber;

and controlling to deposit a film layer serving as a negative current collector on the substrate deposited with the battery anode and the electrolyte in the third deposition film chamber, and outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the film lithium battery.

Optionally, before the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, the method further includes:

controlling a transmission device to transport the substrate to a vacuum loading chamber, and inputting the substrate into the first deposition film chamber through the vacuum loading chamber;

the step of outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the thin film lithium battery further comprises:

and conveying the substrate on which the negative current collector is deposited to a vacuum blanking chamber, and outputting the substrate through the vacuum blanking chamber to obtain the film lithium battery with the finished film coating.

Optionally, the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate to a vacuum loading chamber, and the step of inputting the substrate into the first deposition film chamber through the vacuum loading chamber includes:

controlling the base material to be input into the pretreatment chamber through the vacuum feeding chamber;

inputting the base material into the sixth deposition film chamber after the base material is pretreated by the pretreatment chamber;

and controlling the thin film layer deposited on the surface of the substrate in the sixth deposited film chamber to be used as a positive current collector and then transmitting the thin film layer to the first deposited film chamber.

Optionally, the step of controlling the transmission device to transport the substrate according to the preset time interval and sequentially pass through each coating process chamber by the control device, and controlling each coating process chamber to coat the substrate transported into the chamber according to the production control process includes:

controlling the conveying device to convey the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, depositing a film layer serving as a glass conductive current collector on the substrate by using a deposition source, and controlling the conveying device to convey the deposited substrate to the second deposition film chamber;

controlling to deposit a film layer as a color-changing layer on the substrate deposited with the glass conductive current collector in the second deposition film chamber, and transferring the deposited substrate to a heat treatment chamber;

controlling the substrate to be subjected to heat treatment in the heat treatment chamber, and transferring the substrate subjected to heat treatment to a third deposition film chamber;

controlling the deposition of a thin film layer as an electrolyte on a substrate in the third deposition film chamber and controlling the transfer of the deposited substrate to a fourth deposition film chamber;

controlling the deposition of a thin film layer as an ion storage layer on the substrate in the fourth deposition film chamber, and transferring the deposited substrate to a fifth deposition film chamber;

and controlling to deposit a film layer serving as an ion storage layer current collector on the substrate in the fifth deposition film chamber, and outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the deposited electrochromic glass.

Optionally, before the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, the method further includes:

controlling a transmission device to transport the base material to a vacuum loading chamber, and transmitting the base material to a pretreatment chamber through the vacuum loading chamber;

controlling the substrate to be pre-treated in the pre-treatment chamber and then transferred into the first deposition film chamber;

before the step of outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the deposited electrochromic glass, the method further comprises the following steps:

and transferring the base material subjected to deposition of the thin film layer serving as the current collector of the ion storage layer into a vacuum blanking chamber, and outputting the base material through the vacuum blanking chamber to obtain the electrochromic glass subjected to deposition.

Optionally, the step of transferring the substrate with the deposited thin film layer as the ion storage layer current collector into the vacuum blanking chamber further includes:

and transferring the substrate subjected to deposition of the film layer serving as the current collector of the ion storage layer to a sixth deposition film chamber, marking and depositing the film layer serving as an anti-reflection layer on the substrate through the sixth deposition film chamber, and transferring the substrate subjected to deposition to a vacuum blanking chamber.

The invention has the beneficial effects that the invention provides continuous vacuum coating production equipment and a production method thereof. The method is used for producing multilayer thin-film functional devices such as thin-film lithium batteries, electrochromic glass and the like. The film coating process chambers are designed into a linear structure for connection, so that the substrate can freely shuttle in the chambers by the conveying device, the film coating forming in vacuum is realized at one time, and the film coating process chambers are designed into a modularized structure and can be replaced, increased and disassembled according to requirements.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic three-dimensional structure of a continuous type vacuum coating production apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a connection structure of the continuous type vacuum plating production apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a multilayer film structure in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a continuous coating system for manufacturing a thin film lithium battery according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a thin film lithium battery fabricated according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a continuous coating system for manufacturing electrochromic glazing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view of an electrochromic glazing structure used in the manufacture of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a process for manufacturing an all-solid-state thin film lithium battery according to an embodiment of the present invention (example 1);

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an all-solid-state thin film lithium battery according to an embodiment of the present invention (example 1);

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a lithium-free negative electrode type-all-solid-state thin film lithium battery manufacturing process in an example of the present invention (example 2);

fig. 11 is a schematic structural view of a lithium-free negative electrode type-all-solid-state thin film lithium battery in an embodiment of the invention (example 2);

FIG. 12 is an electrochromic glazing manufacturing flow in an example of the invention (example 3);

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of the structure of an electrochromic glazing in an embodiment of the invention (example 3);

FIG. 14 is an electrochromic glazing manufacturing flow in an example of the invention (example 4);

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural view of an electrochromic glazing in an embodiment of the invention (example 4).

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer and clearer, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", "the" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. Further, "connected" or "coupled" as used herein may include wirelessly connected or wirelessly coupled. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes all or any element and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the prior art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In order to overcome the equipment problems in the prior art, the invention patent describes a continuous coating system and introduces a process and a production method. The system is characterized in that a linear multi-cavity splicing structure is adopted, and a quasi-static coating/dynamic coating method is particularly utilized to complete continuous large-scale production of the whole product at one time (the capacity is 100 ten thousand square meters per year) in a vacuum environment. The system is already used for producing functional devices such as all-solid-state thin film lithium batteries, electrochromic glass and the like.

The production apparatus and the production method according to the present invention will be further described below by taking the embodiment of the present invention as an example.

Exemplary device

This embodiment provides a continuous type vacuum coating production apparatus, shown in combination with a perspective view in fig. 1 and a side view in fig. 2, comprising:

the coating process chambers are connected in a linear mode in sequence, each coating process chamber is arranged in a vacuum mode, and each coating process chamber is used for heating and/or coating the base materials conveyed into the chamber through a coating process. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the plurality of coating process chambers may include one or more of: a chamber which can be used for vacuum loading or vacuum unloading of a substrate transported into the chamber, taking the vacuum loading chamber (100) as an example, a pretreatment chamber (102) for pretreating the substrate, a coating process chamber (104) corresponding to a film 1, a coating process chamber (106) corresponding to a film 2, a heat treatment chamber (108) for heat treating the substrate transported into the chamber, a coating process chamber (110) corresponding to a film 3, a coating process chamber (112) corresponding to a film 4, a coating process chamber (114) corresponding to a film 5, a coating process chamber (116) corresponding to a film 6, and a vacuum loading or unloading chamber for loading or unloading the substrate transported into the chamber, taking the vacuum unloading chamber (118) as an example, wherein the vacuum loading chamber (100) and the pretreatment chamber (102) are connected through a first valve (101), the vacuum blanking chamber (118) is connected with the coating process chamber (116) corresponding to the film 6 through a second valve (117).

Specifically, the arrangement mode of each coating process chamber is that the coating process chambers are sequentially arranged and are arranged in a straight line, the coating process chambers are connected through a valve or a through way, the valve can be closed/opened and is used for sealing vacuum, and the through way only plays a role in connection. Each coating process chamber is in modular design, the arrangement sequence of each coating process chamber can be spliced at will as required, and because the coating process chambers are communicated with each other, in the whole coating process, the vacuum degree in the chambers can be monitored by a vacuum test system, the film performance can be monitored by a film thickness gauge, a sheet resistance gauge, a spectrophotometer and the like, if the performance index of the film does not meet the use requirement of a client, the reverse mobility between the coating process chambers can be controlled, the film coating repair can be directly carried out in the required coating process chambers, the film coating can also be started from the rightmost side according to the structural requirement, and all the processes are finished from the left side, namely the reverse direction film coating.

The device provided by the embodiment further comprises: at least one transfer device (including a first movable carriage (200), a second movable carriage (201), a third movable carriage (202), a fourth movable carriage (203) and a fifth movable carriage (205) shown in fig. 1 and/or fig. 2) for transporting the substrate sequentially through the respective coating process chambers; and the control device is used for controlling the transmission device to move among the coating process chambers according to a preset control program and controlling the coating process chambers to coat the substrate transmitted to the chambers according to a production control process.

The substrate to be coated is fixed on the transportation device, and the transportation device can be a movable trolley or other transportation means which can be used for bearing the substrate. And the control device controls the conveying device to convey the base material to sequentially pass through each coating process chamber according to a preset control program, and when the base material is conveyed into each coating process chamber, the base material is subjected to coating operation in the coating process chambers to finish the multilayer film product.

Furthermore, a vacuum deposition system, a vacuum pumping system, a vacuum measurement system, a film in-situ detection system, a heating system and a mask system are arranged in each coating process chamber.

The vacuum deposition system is used for depositing and coating the base material conveyed into the chamber by using the deposition source; such as magnetron sputtering, thermal evaporation, electron beam evaporation, ion source assisted deposition.

The vacuum-pumping system is used for pumping the gas in the cavity so as to enable the cavity to be in a vacuum state; such as mechanical pumps, molecular pumps, cryopumps.

The vacuum measurement system is used for detecting the vacuum degree in the cavity; such as resistance gauges, ionization gauges, and film gauges.

The film in-situ detection system is used for detecting the performance parameters of the film layer during deposition and coating; sheet resistance meter, spectrophotometer, film thickness meter.

And the heating system is used for heating the coating film in the cavity according to a preset temperature to realize in-situ annealing.

The mask system can be used for being attached to a base material, so that a mask pattern is formed on the base material, and a mask plate can be omitted.

And in each coating process chamber, evacuating air in the chamber through a vacuum pumping system to obtain a vacuum chamber, and detecting the vacuum degree in the chamber by using a vacuum measurement system. After the conveying device conveys the substrate into the chamber, the film in-situ monitoring system detects the film coating condition, judges whether the film layer meets the requirement, and after the film layer deposition is finished, the control device conveys the conveying device into the next film coating process chamber.

Because each chamber is provided with the mask plate in the vacuum coating process, the mask plate can be attached to the substrate in vacuum, and the patterned film is obtained.

The coating process used in this embodiment is dynamic coating, and is an online continuous coating mode, that is, the substrate and the fixed shelf pass through the coating production line at a constant speed (that is, pass through each chamber at a constant speed by using a transportation device), the substrate passes through the deposition source at a constant speed when passing through each coating process chamber, and the coating method used in each coating process chamber adopts magnetron sputtering, evaporation, and the like.

In this coating system, a general device was realized using a multilayer thin film structure, as shown in fig. 3, comprising a substrate (000) having a thickness of 5-500 μm, six layers of thin films deposited: film 1(001) -film 2(002), film 3(003), film 4(004), film 5(005), film 6(006), and the thickness of the single-layer film is 5-8000 nm. The above films 1 to 6 are sequentially deposited on the substrate in a superposed manner. It is contemplated that both sides of the substrate may be used to deposit the multilayer thin film structure, and when the substrate is used for coating, either side of the substrate may be selected as the coating surface for coating.

In order to further explain the above-mentioned apparatus disclosed in the present invention, the thin film lithium battery produced by the above-mentioned apparatus is used as an example to analyze the above-mentioned apparatus proposed in this embodiment in more detail.

Furthermore, the plurality of coating process chambers which are sequentially connected in a linear manner comprise a first deposition film chamber, a heat treatment chamber, a second deposition film chamber and a third deposition film chamber;

the first deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery anode on a substrate;

the heat treatment chamber is used for carrying out heat treatment on the base material input into the heat treatment chamber according to a preset temperature value;

the second deposition film chamber; for depositing a thin film layer as a battery electrolyte on a substrate;

and the third deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a battery negative electrode current collector on the substrate.

And the substrate is subjected to deposition and heat treatment of corresponding thin film layers in the first deposition film chamber, the heat treatment chamber, the second deposition film chamber and the third deposition film chamber in sequence to obtain the all-solid-state thin film lithium battery finished product. Wherein, the thin film layer that the deposit obtained in each coating film technology cavity superposes in proper order, promptly: the thin film layer deposited in the first deposition film chamber and used as the battery anode is directly bonded with the upper surface of the substrate, the thin film layer deposited in the second deposition film chamber and used as the battery electrolyte is deposited on the upper surface of the thin film layer deposited in the first deposition film chamber and used as the battery anode and is bonded with the thin film layer used as the battery anode, and the thin film layer deposited in the third deposition film chamber and used as the battery cathode current collector is deposited on the upper surface of the thin film layer used as the battery electrolyte and is bonded with the thin film layer used as the battery electrolyte. And the three film layers are sequentially superposed to obtain the finished product of the all-solid-state film lithium battery without the lithium cathode.

Since the chamber for depositing the battery negative electrode thin film layer is not arranged in the above step, the all-solid-state thin film lithium battery without the lithium negative electrode is obtained in the above step, and therefore, if a fourth deposition thin film chamber is arranged between the second deposition thin film chamber and the third deposition thin film chamber, and the thin film layer as the battery negative electrode is deposited on the upper surface of the thin film layer of the battery electrolyte (i.e., the thin film layer as the battery electrolyte deposited in the second deposition thin film chamber) by using the fourth deposition thin film chamber, the apparatus can be used for manufacturing the all-solid-state thin film lithium battery.

In order to better seal and coat the manufactured battery, optionally, a fifth deposition film chamber is connected after the third deposition film chamber; and utilizing the fifth deposition film chamber for depositing a film layer as a battery sealing coating layer. The thin film layer used as the battery sealing coating layer is deposited on the upper surface of the thin film layer used as the battery negative current collector to coat the thin film layer of the battery negative current collector. If a film layer serving as a battery negative electrode is bonded below the film layer of the battery negative electrode current collector, the film layer serving as a battery sealing coating layer simultaneously coats the film layer serving as the battery negative electrode current collector and the film layer serving as the battery negative electrode current collector, and the film layers coated inside the film layer are sealed and coated.

Further, if the used substrate is not conductive, a sixth deposition film chamber needs to be connected before the first deposition film chamber; and depositing a film layer serving as a current collector of the battery anode by utilizing the sixth deposition film chamber. If the substrate used has conductivity, for example: such as a metal foil, the sixth deposition film chamber for depositing the corresponding film layer of the current collector may not be provided. The thin film layer deposited in the sixth deposition film chamber and used as the current collector of the positive electrode of the battery is positioned between the upper surface of the base material and the thin film layer used as the positive electrode of the battery, the thin film layer is directly deposited on the upper surface of the base material after the surface of the base material is pretreated, and the thin film layer used as the positive electrode of the battery is deposited on the upper surface of the thin film layer used as the current collector of the positive electrode of the battery, so that the thin film layer used as the current collector of the positive electrode of the battery and the thin film layer used as the positive.

In one embodiment, a vacuum loading chamber is further disposed before the first deposited film chamber, and a vacuum unloading chamber is further connected after the sixth deposited film chamber, or a vacuum unloading chamber is further disposed before the first deposited film chamber, and a vacuum loading chamber is further connected after the sixth deposited film chamber.

Because in this equipment, the modularization setting between each cavity that the linear type is connected can splice the use as required, consequently the position of vacuum material loading cavity and vacuum unloading cavity can be located the arbitrary one side at both ends respectively, and the left and right sides is changed and all can be used.

In order to obtain a better coating effect, a pretreatment chamber is connected behind the vacuum feeding chamber;

the pretreatment chamber is used for pretreating the substrate input into the chamber; wherein the pretreatment comprises ion bombardment, plasma cleaning and activation of the surface of the base material. Since the pretreatment chamber is used for improving the film coating effect, whether the chamber is arranged or not can be determined according to the step flow or the cost.

In order to further explain the above-mentioned apparatus disclosed in the present invention, the following example of using the above-mentioned apparatus to produce a thin film lithium battery is a more detailed analysis of the above-mentioned apparatus proposed in this embodiment.

Referring to fig. 4, cleaned substrates are fixed on a first movable carriage (200), and then enter a high-vacuum loading chamber (100) together, and enter a pretreatment chamber (102) through a first valve (101) of vacuum.

In the pretreatment chamber (102), the surface of the substrate is subjected to ion bombardment, plasma cleaning and activation.

After the base material is pretreated, inputting the pretreated base material into a sixth deposition film chamber: in the sixth deposition film chamber (i.e. the chamber (104) corresponding to the deposition film 1 shown in fig. 4), the film 1 is deposited on the substrate as the current collector of the positive electrode of the battery, the main material of the current collector is metal, the thickness is 10-1000nm, and the sheet resistance is 0.05-200 ohm/square. Labeling: if the substrate is directly conductive, such as a metal foil, the battery positive current collector may not be deposited.

In the first deposition film chamber (i.e. corresponding to the chamber (106) for depositing the film 2 in fig. 4), the film 2 is deposited as the battery anode, the anode main material is lithium-containing metal oxide, the thickness is 10-10000nm, and the anode is the battery core energy storage material.

In the heat treatment chamber (108), the substrate and the film are subjected to vacuum heat treatment at the temperature of 400-900 ℃ so as to realize crystallization of the anode.

In the second deposition film chamber (i.e. the chamber (110) for depositing the film 3 in fig. 4), the film 3 is deposited as the battery electrolyte, the electrolyte is solid, the main material is lithium-containing metal oxide, the thickness is 300-8000nm, and the electrolyte is located between the anode and the cathode, so as to isolate the electron flow of the anode and the cathode and conduct lithium ions.

In the fourth deposition film chamber (corresponding to the chamber (112) of the deposition film 4 in fig. 4), the deposition film 4 is used as the negative electrode of the battery, the main material of the negative electrode is lithium metal and other metal oxides, the thickness is 100-8000nm, and the negative electrode is a component for storing lithium ions; if the fourth deposition film chamber is not arranged, the method can be used for manufacturing the all-solid-state film lithium battery without the lithium cathode.

Depositing the film 5 in the third deposition film chamber (i.e. the chamber (114) corresponding to the deposition film 5 in fig. 4) to be used as the negative current collector of the battery, wherein the main material of the negative current collector is similar to that of the positive current collector, the negative current collector is a metal film, the thickness of the metal film is 10-1000nm, and the square resistance of the metal film is 0.05-200 ohm/square;

in the fifth deposition film chamber (i.e. the chamber (116) corresponding to the deposition film 6 in fig. 4), the deposition film 6, which is used as a battery sealing coating layer, is made of an organic material, an inorganic material, or an organic/inorganic composite material with a thickness of 50-5000nm and is used for isolating the water vapor and oxygen of the battery.

The fully coated substrate and the first movable carriage (200) are further transported out of the high vacuum to the atmosphere from the fifth deposition film chamber (film 6 chamber (116)), through the second valve (117) for vacuum, through the vacuum blanking chamber (118) together. Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a thin film lithium battery manufactured after the above-described plating process.

In the whole process, through vacuum internal monitoring, if the performance index does not meet the use requirement of a customer, the coating system is used for reverse mobility, and the coating repair is directly carried out on a required process chamber; and coating can be started from the rightmost side according to the structural requirements, and all the process procedures can be completed from the left side.

The method provided by the embodiment can also be used for manufacturing electrochromic glass, and the specific implementation mode is as follows:

the plurality of coating process chambers which are sequentially connected in a linear manner comprise a first deposition film chamber, a second deposition film chamber, a heat treatment chamber, a third deposition film chamber, a fourth deposition film chamber and a fifth deposition film chamber;

the first deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass conductive current collector on a substrate;

the second deposition film chamber; a thin film layer for depositing a glass tinting layer on a substrate;

the heat treatment chamber is used for carrying out vacuum heat treatment on the base material transmitted into the chamber according to a preset second temperature value;

the third deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer as a glass electrolyte on the substrate;

the fourth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass ion storage layer on the substrate;

and the fifth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a current collector of the glass ion storage layer on the substrate.

After the substrate is subjected to deposition and heat treatment of corresponding thin film layers in the first deposition film chamber, the second deposition film chamber, the heat treatment chamber, the third deposition film chamber, the fourth deposition film chamber and the fifth deposition film chamber in sequence, the thin film layers deposited in the coating process chambers are sequentially superposed to obtain the manufactured electrochromic glass.

Further, a vacuum feeding chamber is arranged in front of the first deposition film chamber, a vacuum blanking chamber is connected behind the fifth deposition film chamber, or a vacuum blanking chamber is arranged in front of the first deposition film chamber, and a vacuum feeding chamber is connected behind the fifth deposition film chamber.

A pretreatment chamber is also arranged between the vacuum feeding chamber and the first deposition film chamber; the pretreatment chamber is used for pretreating the substrate input into the chamber; wherein the pretreatment comprises ion bombardment on the surface of the base material, and cleaning and activating of plasma.

It is conceivable that a sixth deposition film chamber may be connected after the fifth deposition film chamber;

and the sixth deposition film chamber is used for depositing a film layer serving as a glass antireflection layer.

As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the process flow of the electrochromic glass is basically similar to that of a thin film lithium battery, and the manufacturing process is as follows:

the substrate (000) is glass, and after the cleaned substrate is fixed on the first movable frame (200), the cleaned substrate enters the high-vacuum loading chamber (100) together and enters the pretreatment chamber (102) through the first vacuum valve (101);

performing ion bombardment, plasma cleaning and activation on the surface of the substrate (000) in a pretreatment chamber (102);

in the first deposition film chamber (104) corresponding to deposition film 1 in fig. 6), film 1 is deposited on the substrate as a current collector of glass, the current collector is mainly a transparent conductive film, the material is ITO, silver nanowire, graphene, metal grid, etc., the thickness is 10-1000nm, and the sheet resistance is 1-20 ohm/square.

Depositing the film 2 in a second film deposition chamber (corresponding to the chamber (106) for depositing the film 2 in fig. 6) to be used as a color changing layer of the glass, wherein the main material of the color changing layer is a variable valence metal oxide, the thickness of the color changing layer is 10-2000nm, and the color changing function of the whole glass is mainly realized in the color changing layer; in this chamber, there may be a deposition source of metallic lithium;

in the heat treatment chamber (108), the substrate and the thin film are subjected to vacuum heat treatment at 200-800 ℃.

Depositing a thin film 3 in a third deposited thin film chamber (corresponding to chamber (110) for depositing thin film 3 in fig. 6), wherein the electrolyte is solid, the main material is oxide, nitride and the like, the thickness is 5-1000nm, the electrolyte is positioned between the discoloring layer and the ion storage layer, and the electrolyte partially or completely isolates electron conduction between the discoloring layer and the ion storage layer and conducts lithium ions or hydrogen ions; in this chamber, there may be a deposition source of metallic lithium.

In the fourth deposition film chamber (112) corresponding to deposition film 4 in fig. 6), the deposition film 4, which is an ion storage layer, is mainly made of metal oxide with a thickness of 20-2000nm and is a part for storing lithium ions; in this chamber, there may be a deposition source of metallic lithium, a heating system;

depositing the film 5 in a fifth deposition film chamber (corresponding to chamber (114) of the deposition film 5 in fig. 6) as a current collector of an ion storage layer in glass, wherein the main material is similar to a transparent conductive current collector of a discoloring layer, the material is ITO, silver nanowires, graphene, metal grids and the like, the thickness is 10-1000nm, and the square resistance is 1-20 ohm/square;

further, after the fifth film deposition chamber, a sixth film deposition chamber (corresponding to the chamber (116) for depositing the film 6 in fig. 6) may be further disposed, and the deposited film 6 is used as an antireflection layer, has a thickness of 10-500nm, reduces the glass reflectivity, and increases the transmittance;

the substrate which is completely coated and the first movable frame (200) pass through the vacuum second valve (117) from the film 6(116) chamber, pass through the vacuum blanking chamber (118) together, and further go out from the high vacuum to enter the atmosphere;

in the whole process, through in-situ film performance monitoring, if the performance index does not meet the use requirement of a customer, the reverse mobility of a coating system is utilized, and the coating repair is directly carried out on a required process chamber; and coating can be started from the rightmost side according to the structural requirements, and all the process procedures can be completed from the left side.

Exemplary method

The embodiment provides a production method of a continuous vacuum coating, which comprises the following steps of;

step S11, connecting the plurality of coating process chambers in a linear manner in sequence; wherein each coating process chamber is arranged in vacuum;

and S12, controlling the transmission device to transport the base materials to pass through each coating process chamber at preset time intervals by the control device, and controlling the coating process chambers to coat the base materials transported into the chambers according to the production control process.

Specifically, the steps that the control device controls the transmission device to transport the base materials to sequentially pass through each coating process chamber according to a preset time interval, and controls the coating process chambers to coat the base materials transported into the chambers according to a production control process comprise:

controlling the conveying device to convey the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, depositing a film layer serving as a battery anode on the substrate by using a deposition source, and conveying the substrate subjected to the deposition of the battery anode to the heat treatment chamber;

controlling the substrate deposited with the battery anode to be subjected to heat treatment in the heat treatment chamber, and transferring the substrate subjected to heat treatment to a second deposited film chamber;

controlling to deposit a thin film layer as an electrolyte on the substrate deposited with the battery anode in the second deposition film chamber and to transfer the deposited substrate to a third deposition film chamber;

and controlling to deposit a film layer serving as a negative current collector on the substrate deposited with the battery anode and the electrolyte in the third deposition film chamber, and outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the film lithium battery.

Further, before the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate into the first deposition film chamber, the method further includes:

controlling a transmission device to transport the substrate to a vacuum loading chamber, and inputting the substrate into the first deposition film chamber through the vacuum loading chamber;

the step of outputting the deposited substrate to obtain the thin film lithium battery further comprises:

and conveying the substrate on which the negative current collector is deposited to a vacuum blanking chamber, and outputting the substrate through the vacuum blanking chamber to obtain the film lithium battery with the finished film coating.

Further, the step of controlling the transport device to transport the substrate to a vacuum loading chamber, through which the substrate is input into the first deposition film chamber, includes:

controlling the base material to be input into the pretreatment chamber through the vacuum feeding chamber;

inputting the base material into the sixth deposition film chamber after the base material is pretreated by the pretreatment chamber;

and controlling the film layer deposited on the substrate as the anode current collector in the sixth deposited film chamber and then transmitting the film layer to the first deposited film chamber.

The above production method is further described below with reference to specific application examples for manufacturing thin film lithium batteries and electrochromic glasses.