1 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Gains in Metallizing Economics through

Improved Evaporator Boat Design

Rama Ramasamy David M. Rusinko Gregory A. StrosakerJames A. Ricker

GE Advanced Materials, Quartz

2 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Metallizing Efficiency Flow

Vacuum MetallizingEfficiency & Yield

Plate UniformityMetal Spatter

Boat life

Material Properties• Wettability• Corrosion resistance• Resistivity• Toughness

External & Process Parameters• Chamber vacuum• Boat break-in• Moisture free• Boat clamping• Operating temperature• Wire feed position

Boat Performance• Controllability• Puddle size & shape• Power usage• Bow/crack resistance

Geometry• Size and shape• Roughness

3 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Boat Types and Performance:

Desired Boat Characteristics: More wettable & corrosion resistant

Boat properties 2-part boat 3-part boat

Wettability - + Corrosion resistance + -Boat life + -Coating uniformity - +Puddle size - +Line speed - +

2-part boat: BN + TiB2

3-part boat: BN + TiB2 + AlN

Coating UniformityWettability Puddle Size

Line Speed

Boat LifeCorrosion Resistance

Spitting

4 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Wettability

Al

f

IMC

Al

f

IMC

- The extent of melt spread on the boat- Material dependent property- Surface interaction between boat and the Al- Influences plate uniformity and boat life

Measurement1. Contact angle f (common practice)

- Quantitative but non-intuitive 2. Area spread of Al on the boat surface

- Direct correlation to operational wettability

5 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

New Technology: Improve wettability of 2-part boat

Materials & Process Optimization• Impurity control of base materials- BN and TiB2

• Engineered particle morphology• Composition

Grain boundary chemistry• New composite grain boundary phases• Modified surface energy to increase wettability• Chemically resistant to corrosion

Microstructure schematics of ceramic composites

Pure composite GB modified composite

6 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Existing 2-part boat New Tech. boat

Al spread area (cm2)

Performance

Improved Wettability• Initial and sustained wettability (>2X)• Enables-

• puddle stability • plate uniformity • increased line speed

f = 140° f = 45°

7 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

A B C D E F

Metallizer

% L

ife In

cre

ase

After 10 hrs: highly stable puddle spreads over entire

cavity

Corrosion Resistance & Boat Life• Wettable slag enables 20-60% increased life via

• Increased wet surface area• Improved puddle stability

Typical 2-part boat

New tech. boat

After 10 wetting hrs.Performance …

8 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Operational Requirements:

• Minimal exposure to humidity• Systematic break-in (operator card)• Consistent process parameters run to run

9 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Units English Time Basis Month

Production Schedule Boat Performance Baseline Actual

Shifts 3 % Increased Boat Life 0% 30%Hours / Shift 8 % Increased Line Speed 0% 0%Days / Week 7 # Rolls / Boat Set 6.0 7.8Equipment Availability (up-time) 90% Total Length Film / Boat Set (ft) 600,000 780,000

Total Wet Time / Boat Set (hrs) 5.0 6.5

Process Data

Roll Size (ft) 100,000

# Rolls / Boat Set 6 Boat Costs Baseline Proposed Difference

# Boats / Roll 30 Boat Price $20.00 $23.00 15%Line Speed (ft/min) 2000 Boat Cost / Month $32,850.00 $29,629.41 $3,221

Between-Roll Down Time (minutes) Productivity Improvement Baseline Actual Difference

Venting 10 # Boats Used / Month 1643 1288 -354Roll Change & Boat PM 40 # Boat Changes / Month 55 43 -11.8Pump Down 10 Additional Up-Time ( hrs/ Month) 0.0 12.6 12.6

Venting 10 # Rolls of Film / Month 328.5 334.9 6.4Roll Change & Boat Change 85 Film Revenue / Month $984,389 $1,003,691 $19,302Pump Down 10 Film Gross Margin / Month $393,756 $401,476 $7,721

Boat Conditioning 15

Product $10,941

Film Type OPP 3%Film Gage (mils) 48Film Width (in) 80Film Selling Price / Pound $2.00Gross Margin 40%

Increase

Customized IMC Boat Performance Value Calculator

Gross Margin / Month

Non Boat

Change60 min

120 minBoat

Change

English Month

OPP

Performance –Value RelationshipModel

Vacuum Metallization:Process and CostAssumptions

10 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Units English Time Basis Month

Production Schedule Boat Performance Baseline Actual

Shifts 3 % Increased Boat Life 0% 30%Hours / Shift 8 % Increased Line Speed 0% 0%Days / Week 7 # Rolls / Boat Set 6.0 7.8Equipment Availability (up-time) 90% Total Length Film / Boat Set (ft) 600,000 780,000

Total Wet Time / Boat Set (hrs) 5.0 6.5

Process Data

Roll Size (ft) 100,000

# Rolls / Boat Set 6 Boat Costs Baseline Proposed Difference

# Boats / Roll 30 Boat Price $20.00 $23.00 15%Line Speed (ft/min) 2000 Boat Cost / Month $32,850.00 $29,629.41 $3,221

Between-Roll Down Time (minutes) Productivity Improvement Baseline Actual Difference

Venting 10 # Boats Used / Month 1643 1288 -354Roll Change & Boat PM 40 # Boat Changes / Month 55 43 -11.8Pump Down 10 Additional Up-Time ( hrs/ Month) 0.0 12.6 12.6

Venting 10 # Rolls of Film / Month 328.5 334.9 6.4Roll Change & Boat Change 85 Film Revenue / Month $984,389 $1,003,691 $19,302Pump Down 10 Film Gross Margin / Month $393,756 $401,476 $7,721

Boat Conditioning 15

Product $10,941

Film Type OPP 3%Film Gage (mils) 48Film Width (in) 80Film Selling Price / Pound $2.00Gross Margin 40%

Increase

Customized IMC Boat Performance Value Calculator

Gross Margin / Month

Non Boat

Change60 min

120 minBoat

Change

English Month

OPP

The Value: Boat Life

30% increased boat life15% increased boat price

Decreased overall boat costè 3% Increase in Margin

* Data here is based STRICTLY on GE's model assumptions

11 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Formore constrained capacity,

10% increase in line speedè 2% Increase in Margin

Units English Time Basis Month

Production Schedule Boat Performance Baseline Actual

Shifts 3 % Increased Boat Life (in film length) 0% 0%Hours / Shift 8 % Increased Line Speed 0% 10%Days / Week 7 # Rolls / Boat Set 6.0 6.0Equipment Availability (up-time) 90% Total Length Film / Boat Set (ft) 600,000 600,000

Total Wet Time / Boat Set (hrs) 5.0 4.5

Process Data

Roll Size (ft) 100,000

# Rolls / Boat Set 6 Boat Costs Baseline Proposed Difference

# Boats / Roll 30 Boat Price $20.00 $23.00 15%Line Speed (ft/min) 2000 Boat Cost / Month $32,850.00 $39,264.80 $6,415

Between-Roll Down Time (minutes) Productivity Improvement Baseline Actual Difference

Venting 10 # Boats Used / Month 1643 1707 65Roll Change & Boat PM 40 # Boat Changes / Month 55 57 2.2Pump Down 10 Additional Up-Time ( hrs/ Month) 0.0 24.9 24.9

Venting 10 # Rolls of Film / Month 328.5 341.4 12.9Roll Change & Boat Change 85 Film Revenue / Month $984,389 $1,023,144 $38,755Pump Down 10 Film Gross Margin / Month $393,756 $409,258 $15,502

Boat Conditioning 15

Product $9,087

Film Type OPP 2%Film Gage (mils) 48Film Width (in) 80Film Selling Price / Pound $2.00Margin 40%

Increase

Customized IMC Boat Performance Value Calculator

Gross Margin / Month

Non Boat

Change60 min

120 minBoat

Change

English Month

OPP

Value: Line Speed

* Data here is based STRICTLY on GE's model assumptions

12 /12GE – AIMCAL 2006 Fall

10/17/2006

Conclusions:

v New boat technology combining-2-part boat’s corrosion resistance & 3-part boat’s wettability

under appropriate operating conditionsü Improved wettabilityü Stable puddleü Increased Boat lifeü Improved process efficiency, yield and profit

Disclaimer: This presentation is not a license to operate under, or intended to suggest infringement of, any existing patents. Neither the presenter(s) nor their employer(s) make any guarantee of results for the use of any material, product, service or design mentioned in this presentation, and we assume no obligation or liability whatsoever in connection with information presented in this presentation.