High throughput surface treatment on coiled flexible substrates
AssigneeNanosolar, Inc.
InventorsMartin R. Roscheisen, Karl Pichler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One or more substrates may be coiled into one or more coils in such a way that adjacent turns of the coils do not touch one another. The one or more coiled substrates are placed in a treatment chamber where substantially an entire surface of the one or more coiled substrates may be treated with a surface treatment process. One or more spacers may be placed between adjacent layers of the coiled substrate before a full turn of the substrate has been coiled around a carousel.
Claims28
A method for treating a substrate surface, the method comprising:
- coiling one or more substrates into one or more coils in such a way that adjacent turns of the coils do not touch one another and define a gap that allows for flow between adjacent turns of the coils;
- placing the one or more coiled substrates in a treatment chamber;
- and
- in the treatment chamber, treating substantially an entire surface of the one or more coiled substrates with a surface treatment process, wherein the surface treatment process includes one or more atomic layer deposition (ALD) reactions;
- wherein at least one or more of the substrates comprises a flexible, planar elongated member.
A method for treating a substrate surface, the method comprising:
- coiling one or more substrates into one or more coils in such a way that adjacent turns of the coils do not touch;
- placing the one or more coiled substrates in a treatment chamber;
- and in the
- treatment chamber, treating substantially an entire surface of the one or more coiled substrates with a surface treatment process,
- wherein the surface treatment process includes one or more atomic layer deposition (ALD) reactions,
- wherein coiling one or more substrates includes attaching two substrates together back-to-back to form a dual substrate and coiling the dual substrate.
A method for treating a substrate surface, the method comprising:
- coiling one or more substrates into one or more coils in such a way that adjacent turns of the coils do not touch one another;
- placing the one or more coiled substrates in a treatment chamber;
- and
- in the treatment chamber, treating substantially an entire surface of the one or more coiled substrates with a surface treatment process, wherein the surface treatment process includes one or more atomic layer deposition (ALD) reactions;
- wherein at least one or more of the substrates comprises a flexible, planar elongated member;
- wherein the surface treatment process using one or more coiled substrates has an effective throughput at least 2 times greater than the same process using an uncoiled substrate that can fit in the same chamber and undergo the ALD reactions;
- wherein the effective throughput of the treatment chamber comprises a total surface area treated per unit time in a single batch process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.