Vakuumbeschichtung von Architekturglas ‐ Ein historischer Abriss

Vacuum Coating of Architectural Glass ‐ A Historic Review Coatings on architectural glass nowadays are used to minimize the energy necessary for heating or cooling of buildings, as transparent conductors for photovoltaics, for mirrors or glazings with low reflection, and for self‐cleaning windows. Modern architectural glass coaters are able to handle panes with a size of up to 3.21m x 6m and have an annual throughput of 5 to 10 millions of square meters per year. Coating technologies for these dimensions require an extreme amount of experience in the physics of thin films. The most important deposition processes are chemical processes at atmospheric pressure and magnetron sputtering under high vacuum. This article reports on the history of vacuum coating of architectural glass.