Slot-Die Coater

Precision slot-die coating, even in small laboratories.

Compact & affordable, the Slot-Die Coater enables scale-up processing for both beginners & experts.

Made by Ossila, UK

Compatible with both roll-to-roll and sheet-to-sheet deposition processes, slot-die coating is one of the best techniques for scalable thin-film deposition. Its wide processing window ensures stable defect-free deposition for various solution viscosities. Film uniformity is highly accurate, and thickness is controlled by changing the flow rate and substrate speed.

Part of the Institute of Physics award-winning Solar Cell Prototyping Platform, the Slot-Die Coater is much smaller than other models on the market (measuring only 36 x 28 x 19 cm). Despite its reduced size, it also includes an integrated Syringe Pump for synchronised start/end times.

The entire unit is fully operable via the digital controls on the unit itself. This allows you to easily programme multi-step processes, where different parts of the system can each be controlled independently. Up to 20 of these programmes can be saved for easy repeat experiments. You have control over temperature, substrate speed and alignment, solution flow rate, channel thickness, head height, and more (full details below) !

A range of Slot-Die Coater Accessories including Heads, Shims and Tubing can also be purchased separately.

▶ Features

• Space-Saving Design - Designed with lab space in mind, our compact desktop design allows the system to be place on standard laboratory benches, fume hoods, and even within gloveboxes.

• Easy Setup - Ready for immediate use upon being plugged into a power socket. With no need for compressed gasses or vacuum lines, it can easily be moved between different labs and different environments.

• High Cross-Web Uniformity - By using a simple coat-hanger design for the distribution of solution, the flow rate across the head width is made uniform. This results in highly even coatings across the width for a wide range of viscosities. The stainless-steel slot-die head allows for compatibility with the widest range of materials possible.

• Variable Channel Thickness - Interchangeable stainless-steel shims allow the user to change the thickness of the slot die channel. This increases the range of different solutions that can be processed with a single slot die head. By inserting multiple shims, the channel thickness can be increased in intervals of 100μm.

• Uniform Flow Rates and Thicknesses - Our slot-die system comes with an in-built syringe pump. This gives users precise control over the amount of solution entering the slot-die system, thus enabling accurate and repeatable control over the thickness of the deposited film. The in-built syringe pump is controlled by the same internal software, so there is no need for any external controls - enabling you to program synchronised starting times for your experiments.

• Temperature Control - A built-in hotplate on the stage allows the temperature of the substrate to be controlled up to a maximum of 120°C. In addition, a temperature offset can be set in the software for environments with high air flow, to correct for differences between the substrate and hotplate temperature. Control of the substrate temperatures can improve the wetting of solutions by reducing the surface tension, while at the same time the drying rates can be varied - allowing for changes to the nanostructure of deposited films.

• Wide Range of Substrate Speeds - Our motorised stage allows for smooth, continuous movement. With the motor capable of moving at speeds from as low as 1mm/m to as high as 50mm/s, the system has a wide processing window for control of the meniscus.

• Precision Alignment - By using a 3-point levelling system along with high precision micrometer gauges it is possible to precisely align the stage relative to the head.

• Head Height Control - Two micrometers on top of the head carriage allow for the adjustment of the slot die head relative to the stage. By varying the gap height the stability of the meniscus can be improved and the minimum wet film thickness can be changed.

▶ Applications

There are a significant number of applications for slot-die coating so far, including:

• Organic Photovoltaics

• Organic Field-Effect Transistors

• Conductive Polymers

• Nanowires and Nanotubes

• 2D Materials

• Organic Light-Emitting Diodes and Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes

• Perovskite Photovoltaics

• Electrolytes and electrodes for Li-ion batteries

• Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

• and many more...