DRESDEN, Germany - VON ARDENNE has introduced the SKYVA2000 vacuum coating system for depositing reflective and protective coatings on curved optical mirrors and other precision optical substrates up to 2 meters in diameter.

The system is designed for astronomy, scientific research, aerospace, and satellite-based optical applications. It supports coatings including protected silver and aluminum and is intended to provide uniform and repeatable coating deposition on large-aperture optical components.

SKYVA2000 incorporates automated coating processes, in-situ process monitoring, and low-particle handling. The system is based on VON ARDENNE's SKYVA platform, which supports substrates from approximately 1 meter to 8.4 meters in diameter across different system configurations.

The SKYVA platform supports several vacuum deposition technologies, including magnetron sputtering, thermal evaporation, electron-beam evaporation, and ion-beam technologies. VON ARDENNE also provides coating materials and process development through its Technology & Application Center.

The SKYVA8400 system, the largest configuration in the platform, is installed at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, where it is used to coat the observatory's 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror and secondary mirror. VON ARDENNE also supplies smaller VERA ASTA coating systems operating at the Gran Telescopio Canarias in Spain and the Shamakhy Astrophysical Observatory in Azerbaijan.

SKYVA2000 extends the company's optical coating equipment portfolio to mirrors between the smaller VERA ASTA systems and the 8.4-meter SKYVA8400 configuration, providing a system for applications requiring coatings on optical substrates up to 2 meters in diameter.

For more information, please visit https://vonardenne.com.