Coating of Metal Sheets and Strips, Energy Technologies

Within our business unit we focus on large-area vacuum coating of metal sheets and strips at high deposition rates. In addition to the environmental sustainability the advantage of our processes is the almost inexhaustible range of layer materials which goes far beyond the materials that can be used for conventional surface modification.

Besides the deposition of almost all metals, alloys and chemical compounds like SiO2, TiO2, TiN, Al2O3 and other chemical compositions can be deposited as thin layers.

With this material variety we can deposit layers and multilayer systems for a manifold of applications.

Our Services

Fraunhofer FEP offers comprehensive expertise in process and technology development for coating technologies and coating systems according to your application along the entire value chain:

  • Feasibility studies
  • Development of the customized coating technology and the coating system for your product
  • Vacuum coating of large-scale patterns (metal sheets and strips)
  • Development and installation of key components (evaporators, plasma sources, pre-treatment equipment)
  • Technology transfer to production
  • Licensing

This development work is supplemented and supported by:

  • Acquisition and coordination of state, federal, and European Union-funded projects
  • Studies of the current state of technology and engineering, such as literature and patent searches
  • Economic feasibility studies

Applications

 

Transport

Today’s cars reflect our individual preferences. A variety of functions can be implemented through thin-films technologies in optics, lighting and interior as well as through novel systems for connected mobility.

 

Mechanical
engineering

Optimized surfaces are the basis for a lot of innovation in the machine building sector. Layers that make products and components resistant to corrosion, wear, and scratching have enormous commercial importance.

 

Smart building and
architecture

In architecture the coating of flat glass with energy-efficient layers for low-energy homes or for renovation of historical buildings is growing in importance. Developments at the Fraunhofer FEP on transparent heat-reflection, sun protection, and diffusion barrier layers on flat glas and flexible polymer substrates ...

 

Environment and
energy

In order to become widely used, the production costs of environmentally friendly technologies must be lowered further. Especially for energy storage systems this is a strategically important goal. Efficient technologies developed by the Fraunhofer FEP can make an important contribution here.

 

Solar energy

Solar energy is converted into heat and electrical energy using solar heating systems and photovoltaic systems, respectively. To develop these technologies further, more efficient systems and low cost manufacturing processes are required.

 

Preservation

With our services in thin-film technologies we would like not only to enable new products, but also to preserve objects of the past. Plasma processes and electron beam are the tools that we use to sustain historical heritage.

  • Corrosion protection for steel sheet with Zn/Mg alloy coating
  • Stainless steel sheet with decorative, scratch-resistant coatings
  • Corrosion protection for steel sheet with metallic coating of Al, Cr, Ti, Cu or stainless steel
  • Functional layers for photovoltaics and solar thermal systems
  • Metal sheets and strips with carbon based hard coatings
  • "Easy-to-clean" surfaces [YouTube-video]
  • Transparent scratch resistant layers
We are well-equipped for product development work and pilot production covering a broad range of applications. Benefit from our expertise for your future product and for the future-oriented upgrading of your production!
 

Technologies

We use the following technologies to develop and apply precisely suited coatings for our customers’ applications:

  • electron beam evaporation
  • plasma-activated (electron beam) high-rate deposition
  • high-rate deposition – thermal deposition
  • pulse magnetron sputtering
  • high-rate PECVD
  • plasma surface treatment via sputter-etching
  • thermal treatment in vacuo
  • wet-chemical pre-cleaning
  • other vacuum coating processes on request

Click on the following links to find out more about our range of technologies.

 

Plasma-activated large-area and precision coating

We develop plasma-activated coating processes for industrial-scale manufacturing as well as economical and high-quality large-area coating based on PVD and PECVD processes. We offer suitable cleaning processes and plasma pre-treatment

 

Electron beam
technologies

We utilize thermal, chemical, and biological effects of accelerated electrons in the energy range of 10-300 keV for industrial-oriented technological and engineering development, as well as developing tailored electron-beam sources.

 

Technological key
components

We develop, manufacture, and integrate industrial electron-beam, coating, and plasma sources as well as specific supply, control, and regulation technology. We offer sample coatings and substrate treatments, technology transfer, commissioning, and customer support.

We develop further vacuum coating processes for you upon request.

Projects

We are involved in numerous projects. For reasons of confidentiality, we are unable to identify or describe in detail all of the projects here; this applies in particular to projects carried out under contract with industrial clients. However, the following selected list of what are mostly publicly funded projects illustrates the breadth of our application work:

Project Name Discription
Neo-Sol New technological steps for high-efficiency solar cells
KriSiDET Innovative production processes of crystalline silicon layers for applications in energy technology
PoSiBat Highly porous silicon zinc coatings for high power-density batteries
AlTiNTec Investigation of technologies for the deposition of wear reducing
aluminium-rich TiAlN-layers

Press





More information





Collaboration with our clients typically begins with a telephone call or email from the client in order to briefly describe the R&D requirement or technological problem, or to set up a meeting.

From that point onward, we work very closely with the client to develop a plan for the work, which leads to a proposal and bid, and finally to an R&D project. Confidentiality can be ensured from the beginning through a confidentiality agreement.

Please feel free to contact us. If we should not be available when you phone, then please send us a brief email and we will happily phone you back.

Contact persons

Stefan Saager

Contact Press / Media

Dr. Stefan Saager

Group Manager Coating Metal and Energy Applications

Fraunhofer FEP
Winterbergstraße 28
01277 Dresden

Phone  +49 351 2586-316

Bert Scheffel

Contact Press / Media

Dr. Bert Scheffel

Deputy Group Manager

Fraunhofer FEP
Winterbergstraße 28
01277 Dresden

Phone +49 351 2586-243

Fax +49 351 258655-243

Coating of metal sheets and strips