Patent ID: 8062470
Filing Date: 2011-11-22
Classification: C23C,H01J

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for deposition of thin-film coatings from inductively coupled plasma onto the inner surfaces of containers by a PECVD process, the containers having throats with necks and the apparatus comprising the following: a sealable vacuum chamber with a door that periodically can be opened; a conveyor for transporting a plurality of preoriented containers into and from the vacuum chamber when the door is opened; an alignment mechanism comprising a plurality of expandable elements organized into an array that may have an expanded state and a nonexpanded state, the elements being insertable into the throats of the necks of containers in the nonexpanded state and which in the expanded state are capable of shifting the containers into an aligned position wherein the containers are spaced apart at equal distances; a fixation mechanism for fixing the containers in the aligned position; an expandable-element driving mechanism for inserting expandable elements into the throats of the necks of containers prior to expansion and for removing the expandable elements from the containers in a nonexpanded state after the containers are fixed by the fixation mechanism in the form of an array of equally spaced containers; a plurality of coating stations, each coating station comprising the following: an RF transversal antenna for generation of an inductively coupled plasma discharge in the container; an antenna holder with air evacuation holes; and a process gas supply tube inserted into the container, the transversal antennas of the coating station being capable of generating a transverse magnetic field, said coating stations forming an array of coating stations with distances between the adjacent antennas being equal to the distances between the aforementioned equally spaced containers in the aligned position; an RF generator connected to the plasma-generating transversal antenna of each coating station; and a mechanism for unloading the coated containers from the vacuum chamber for subsequent treatment in the form of the aforementioned array of equally spaced containers.