The evaporation boat is a general term for all evaporation vessels and is an indispensable key component in the vacuum evaporation coating process. Depending on the purpose of use, its composition formula is also different. It is generally made of various metal and non-metal compounds such as boron nitride, titanium diboride, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, etc. The boron nitride evaporation boat is currently the most advanced evaporation vessel in the vacuum aluminum coating industry and has completely replaced the old generation of products such as graphite crucibles.
In the field of packaging, evaporation boats can be seen everywhere. The food packaging we come into contact with daily, such as aluminum-plated bags, hot stamping aluminum-plated polyester films, etc., cannot be separated from the help of evaporation boats in their production process. It can accurately evaporate metals such as aluminum and deposit them evenly on the film, adding unique gloss and performance to the packaging materials, effectively keeping the food fresh, and improving the quality and appearance of medicines and cosmetics.
The electronics industry also benefits from the application of evaporation boats. With the continuous upgrading of electronic equipment, the screen coating of products such as smartphones and tablets and the metallization coating of capacitors all rely on high-quality evaporation boats.
The rapid development of new energy, especially new energy vehicles, has led to an increasing demand for evaporation boats. In areas such as thin film coating of power batteries for new energy vehicles, evaporation boats have become an important tool for improving battery performance and safety.
In the field of optics, evaporation boats also play an important role. Whether it is the coating of optical lenses or the manufacture of optical devices, the precise support of evaporation boats is indispensable.
In the evolution of evaporation boats, the introduction of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has become a key turning point. In the early days, graphite materials were easily corroded by aluminum liquid and had a short lifespan. Although attempts were made to apply protective coatings, the effect was poor and the pollution was serious, so they were gradually eliminated. With the advancement of materials science, h-BN has become an ideal crucible material due to its non-wetting properties and good corrosion resistance to most metal and glass melts. However, although pure h-BN materials have electrical insulation and high thermal conductivity, they still need to be used in combination with graphite containers in practical applications, and the effect is not ideal.
The continuous advancement of science and technology has promoted the continuous innovation of the evaporation boat industry. Researchers have explored a better solution, namely the use of TiB2-BN and TiB2-BN-AlN composite conductive ceramic evaporation boats. These new materials combine the high melting point, high chemical stability, high hardness, good conductivity and positive resistivity temperature coefficient of TiB2, the electrical insulation, molten metal corrosion resistance, excellent thermal shock resistance, and good machinability of h-BN, and the high insulation and thermal shock resistance of AlN, making TiB2-BN and TiB2-BN-AlN composite conductive ceramic evaporation boats have multiple advantages such as adjustable resistivity, conductivity, thermal shock resistance, machinability, and corrosion resistance, and are widely used in the metal evaporation industry.