Applied Materials,
Inc. today announced that it has begun shipping multiple Applied Topmet™
4450 systems, the world's largest and fastest, roll-to-roll thin film metal
deposition machine, to a customer in Europe. This latest model of Applied's
Topmet 4450 product line deposits ultra-thin aluminum films on 4.5m (15 feet)
wide rolls of substrate material at a remarkable 20 meters per second (45 miles
per hour) to provide a barrier against oxygen, moisture and ultra-violet radiation
for flexible packaging applications. New technology advances in the system produce
state-of-the-art film quality while doubling the coated area output to drive
down coated film production cost by more than 20%.
The new Topmet 4450 system deposits ultra-thin aluminum films on 4.5m wide rolls of flexible packaging materials at a remarkable 20m per second to provide a barrier against oxygen, moisture and UV radiation. (Photo: Business Wire)
“We are excited about the growth potential of the roll-to-roll equipment
business for flexible packaging as well as emerging applications such as flexible
electronics, displays and solar,” said James Robson, vice president and
general manager of Applied's Glass and Web Product Group. “The expanded
Topmet 4450 system builds on 50 years of leadership in roll-to-roll machine
design, with almost 600 systems installed worldwide, and also reflects Applied
Materials' extensive expertise in scaling up complex manufacturing equipment
and processes.”
The new Topmet 4450 system is considerably faster than competing systems. It
not only provides direct cost savings, but also enables higher material yield,
simplified downstream processing, reduced labor requirements and a smaller factory
footprint. The system's efficient use of power and raw materials, enabled
by advanced high rate evaporation sources, closed-loop automatic layer control
and high performance pumping systems, results in lower operating costs. In addition,
an award winning real-time layer thickness monitoring system enables consistent
coating uniformity while the novel uniform-tension roller design provides high
speed, wrinkle-free material handling.
“We are proud to support our customers' drive to lower production
costs through our continuous system innovation,” said John Busch, head
of Applied's Web Coating Group. “With this system, we boosted output,
lowered operating expense and maintained quality – making the industry-leading
thin film metallization systems even better. Applied will continue to earn its
leadership position in vacuum coating production solutions with innovative products
and superior customer support.”
For more information on Applied's roll-to-roll solutions, visit www.appliedmaterials.com/products/rolltoroll_3.html.
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in Nanomanufacturing
Technology™ solutions with a broad portfolio of innovative equipment,
service and software products for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat
panel displays, solar photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient
glass. At Applied Materials, we apply Nanomanufacturing Technology to improve
the way people live.