No.1 Application Background
With the rapid adoption of intelligent interior lighting concepts, automotive trim components are evolving from purely decorative parts into functional illuminated elements.
Components such as interior ambient lighting parts and semi-transparent illuminated logos are required to simultaneously achieve uniform light emission, metallic appearance, and precisely controlled optical transmittance. This places extremely stringent requirements on film thickness control, in-plane uniformity, and process stability.
In such applications, semi-transparent coatings have become a critical process step. Even minor fluctuations in film thickness can directly result in luminance non-uniformity, color deviation, and visible inconsistencies in overall visual performance.
No.2 Industry Challenges
During the coating of semi-transparent illuminated automotive trim, manufacturers commonly face the following challenges:
• Difficulty in Precise Transmittance Control
Semi-transparent films are highly sensitive to thickness variations. Micron- or even nanometer-level deviations can cause unstable optical transmittance, leading to visible issues such as uneven brightness and inconsistent illumination.
• Limited Process Consistency with Evaporation Techniques
Conventional evaporation processes have inherent limitations in thickness controllability and surface uniformity. In high-volume production, maintaining long-term stability of semi-transparent optical properties is particularly challenging.
• Significant Yield Fluctuations
Non-uniform thickness distribution across substrates results in noticeable variations in luminance and appearance within the same production batch, increasing rework rates and post-process sorting costs.
As a result, traditional evaporation-based processes are gradually becoming insufficient to meet the stringent quality requirements of applications such as interior ambient lighting and semi-transparent illuminated automotive logos.
No.3 Zhenhua Vacuum Coating Solution
To address the core requirement for highly controllable and repeatable film deposition in semi-transparent illuminated automotive trim, Zhenhua Vacuum introduces the ZCL1417 automotive-dedicated coating system.
By utilizing magnetron sputtering technology, the system enables precise control of deposition rate and film thickness, ensuring high consistency of semi-transparent coatings in mass production. This provides a stable and reproducible process foundation for illuminated automotive components.
No.4 Key Equipment Advantages:
1.Modular process configuration, allowing flexible combination of multiple coating technologies; compact system design with small footprint; fully automated control for simplified operation.
2.Hybrid coating platform integrating magnetron sputtering, CVD, and resistance evaporation, capable of accommodating complex process switching and diversified product requirements.
3. Single-cycle deposition of metallic functional layers and protective coatings, eliminating secondary handling contamination while delivering high film uniformity and superior surface gloss.
No.5 Application Scope:
1-Interior ambient lighting components
2-Illuminated automotive logos
3-Radar-transparent logos
4-Interior decorative trim components
5-Headlamp reflectors
The system supports deposition of metallic films, reactive coatings, and semi-transparent optical layers, meeting the performance demands of various automotive optical and decorative application.
-This article was published by vacuum coating equipment manufacturer Zhenhua Vacuum
Post time: Jan-21-2026