IP Library Granted Patent US 12703906
Granted Patent B2
US 12703906 · App. 17/841,207 · Granted Aug 11, 2026

Evaporation boat

Inventor: Alexander Draken (Schongau, DE)
Assignee: KENNAMETAL INC.
C23C14/243C23C14/0647
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12703906
App. No.
17/841,207
Granted
Aug 11, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention relates to an evaporation boat comprising an evaporator body, wherein the evaporator body comprises an evaporator surface which extends along a longitudinal direction of the evaporator body. The evaporator surface has a pyramidally structured surface which can be created by mechanically machining the evaporator surface in two mutually perpendicular machining directions. The pyramidally structured surface comprises a plurality of structural elements which are directly adjacent to one another and have a substantially rectangular bottom surface and lateral surfaces which taper conically to a top surface or point.

Claims (22)

1 . An evaporation boat comprising an evaporator body, wherein

the evaporator body comprises an evaporator surface which extends along a longitudinal direction of the evaporator body, wherein

the evaporator surface has a pyramidally structured surface which is created by mechanically machining the evaporator surface in two mutually perpendicular machining directions, wherein

the pyramidally structured surface comprises a plurality of structural elements which are directly adjacent to one another and have a substantially rectangular bottom surface and lateral surfaces which taper conically to a top surface or point, wherein the opposite lateral surfaces of two adjacent structural elements span an external angle α of 85-95°.

2 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the top surface or point of the structural element has a height relative to its substantially rectangular bottom surface of 0.5-4 mm.

3 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the structural elements have a substantially square bottom surface.

4 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the length S K of one side of the substantially rectangular bottom surface corresponds to a distance S P between two points of two adjacent structural elements, wherein the distance S P has a length of 1-8 mm.

5 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the two mutually perpendicular machining directions extend in straight lines without interruptions.

6 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the pyramidally structured surface has a surface area that is at least 5% larger than the evaporator surface prior to mechanical machining.

7 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the evaporation boat can be heated by direct passage of current as a resistance.

8 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the evaporation boat is made of a sintered ceramic material selected from the group consisting of TiB 2 —BN, TiB 2 —BN—AlN and TiB 2 —BN—AlN—W.

9 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the external angle α is about 90°.

10 . The evaporation boat of according to claim 2 , wherein the height relative to the substantially rectangular bottom surface is 0.6-1.5 mm.

11 . The evaporation boat of according to claim 2 , wherein the height relative to the substantially rectangular bottom surface is 0.8-1.2 mm.

12 . The evaporation boat according to claim 4 , wherein the distance S P has a length of 3-6 mm.

13 . The evaporation boat according to claim 4 , wherein the distance S P has a length of 4-5 mm.

14 . The evaporation boat of claim 6 , wherein the surface area is at least 10 percent larger than the evaporator surface area prior to mechanical machining.

15 . A method for producing an evaporation boat comprising a pyramidally structured surface according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises the following steps:

providing an evaporation boat having an evaporator body, wherein the evaporator body comprises an evaporator surface;

mechanically machining the evaporator surface in two mutually perpendicular machining directions using a groove milling cutter with a V-shaped cutting insert and thus creating the pyramidally structured surface.

16 . Use of an evaporation boat having a pyramidally structured surface according to claim 1 for evaporating metal in a PVD metallization system.

17 . The evaporation boat according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of structural elements have a substantially rectangular bottom surface and lateral surfaces which taper conically to a top surface.