Improvements in or relating to vacuum deposition apparatus

Vacuum deposition apparatus for forming a series of patterns of films deposited by evaporation from fixed sources on to a supporting substrate includes a series of mask holders 6, Fig.1, provided with rollers 26 and mounted at their leading ends between endless chains 7. The chains pass around pulleys 8 and 10 and driving sprocket 18 in a path surrounding evaporation sources 47. At the upper part a substrate is mounted on a sole plate 39 in a frame pivotable at 36. The frame is provided with rollers 41 which ride over rollers 26 when the mask holders are in motion and, when in positions 41A, serve to align the substrate with a selected mask holder during deposition. An alternative means for aligning a selected mask with the substrate is shown in Fig.4 in which the sole plate carrying the substrate is suspended from a platform 49 by dowel screws 64. The platform 49 and sole plate are raised and lowered by cams acting on the lower ends of rods 50. Initial lowering of the platform 49 brings tapered pins 58 and 59 into engagement with the mask holder and further lowering brings tapered pins 62 into engagement with the mask. To allow relative movement necessary to align the mask and substrate either the sole plate is mounted loosely on the dowel screws 64 or the mask is mounted with limited freedom of movement in the mask holder. In use the apparatus is mounted in an evacuated chamber and, in order to avoid contamination, metal parts other than the masks are made of stainless steel and bearings for shafts and rollers of polytetrafluoroethylene. The apparatus may be used to deposit in succession patterns of ferromagnetic material, dielectric material and conductive material on a substrate for use in information storage devices or cryogenic devices of data processing apparatus.