Electron beam evaporator

An electron beam vaporizer is a device that vaporizes solids . The electron beam evaporator belongs to the thermal evaporators . The evaporation energy is brought into a crucible with the evaporation material by means of an electron gun . For small samples, so-called mini electron beam evaporators have become established, in which the electron beam is directed directly onto a rod to be evaporated (Ø2–6 mm) or into a crucible. Rod evaporation in particular has many advantages such as: extremely pure layers, no alloy problems with crucibles, evaporation from all directions (even downwards), etc.

Schematic structure of an electron vaporizer chamber

Since very high energy densities and temperatures can be achieved with electron beam evaporation, all known solids can be evaporated, including tungsten , carbon , ceramics, etc. Since electron beam guns require a vacuum , all applications of electron beam evaporators are vacuum processes. Compared to other thermal evaporators, electron beam evaporators achieve high evaporation rates.

Applications

Electron beam evaporators are used in coating technology to evaporate thin layers , for example anti-reflective layers , hard material layers on optical surfaces (e.g. eyeglass lenses), or effect layers on paper or plastic films .