Novel microwave plasma sputter deposition process providing enhanced optical coatings NMPLAS

NMPAS项目专注于材料和先进制造高增长领域的创新，采用了尖端和创新的涂层工艺-微波等离子体辅助溅射(MPAS)。这提供了一种室温工艺，与目前主要使用的高温电子束沉积生产工艺相比，光学镀膜的生产能力提高了6倍。此外，MPAS能够使用范围更广的热敏性/战略性基材，从而提供成本和光学涂层性能优势。光学镀膜在高价值制造行业中占主导地位，该项目通过提高英国和中国在利润丰厚的当前和新兴高利润率全球市场的竞争力，为合作伙伴开辟了新的可持续业务。从苏格兰西部大学(UWS)向该项目的工业合作伙伴转让的MPAS技术将使中小企业的能力发生阶段性变化。全球约90%的光学镀膜都产自中国，这为中国市场未来资本设备和镀膜元件销售的增长带来了令人振奋的新机遇。这个以商业为主导的项目汇集了来自光学镀膜领域的三个行业合作伙伴，英国中小企业Helia Photonics Limited(HPL)、Orion Photonics Ltd(OPL)和总部位于上海的Jason Vacuum Co.，Ltd(Sjv)，以及英国学术合作伙伴、MPAS工艺的先驱UWS。该项目将海洋保护区的技术准备水平(TRL)提升到后期的商业前水平，即TRL6。

The NMPAS project is focused on an innovation in the Materials & Advanced Manufacturing high growth sector, applying a cutting edge & innovative coating process - Microwave Plasma Assisted Sputtering (MPAS). This offers a room temperature process with up to 6-fold increase in optical coating production throughput compared to current predominantly used high temperature electron-beam deposition production processes. Moreover, MPAS enables use of an expanded range of thermally sensitive/strategic substrates, providing cost and optical coating peformance benefits. Optical coatings are predominant among high value manufacturing sectors & this project opens up new sustainable business for the partners by increasing both the UK’s & China’s competitiveness in lucrative current & emerging high margin global markets. MPAS technology transfer from Univerity of the West of Scotland (UWS) to the project’s industrial partners will enable a step-change in capability for the SMEs. With circa 90% of the worlds optical coatings produced in China, exciting new opportunities for future growth in both capital equipment and coated component sales into the Chinese market. This business-led project brings together three industrial partners from the optical coating sector, UK SMEs Helia Photonics Limited (HPL) & Orion Photonics Ltd (OPL) & Shanghai-based Jason Vacuum Co.,Ltd (SJV), with UK academic partner UWS, pioneer of the MPAS process. The project advances the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of MPAS to a late stage pre-commercial level, i.e. >TRL6.