Our company’s history

Early years of thin film technology in Dresden

When the first sputtering systems for industrial vacuum coatings were developed and built in Dresden, the discovery of the "sputtering" phenomenon was already more than a hundred years old (William Robert Grove, 1852). However, suitable vacuum pumps were not invented until the 1970s, at which time it was recognized that sputtering deposition was an advantageous alternative to thermal evaporation, which had dominated the field up to that date. The development of vacuum systems for sputtering deposition especially for microelectronics was promoted in Dresden - and VEB Elektromat Dresden was already founded in 1961 as a supplier of technical equipment for the production of semiconductor components. The first sputtering systems for vacuum coatings in industrial applications were developed and built in Dresden in 1975. In the 1980s, the three founders of our company were already involved in innovative industrial projects for combining coating and etching technologies in microelectronics. FHR Anlagenbau GmbH was founded in 1991.

Major contract with Manz AG about the delivery of inline coating technology for CIGS solar module factories

Delivery of the precision coating system FHR.Star.600-EOSS® for large optical substrates, prisms and lenses

Delivery of four vertical inline coating lines for metallic and dielectric layers with fully automatic robot-controlled substrate loading and unloading

Delivery of a 1600 mm roll-to-roll sputtering system for optically transparent films (low-E coating)

Delivery of the 3rd generation of systems for vacuum coating solar thermal absorber tubes for CSP power plants

Delivery of several 1600 mm roll-to-roll sputtering and 800 mm thermal evaporation systems for the production of flexible CIGS-based solar cells

Delivery of the first EOSS® sputtering system for precision optical applications to Fraunhofer IST

Delivery of the world's first production system for roll-to-roll vacuum coating of 300 mm wide organic solar cells to Heliatek

Official opening of the new office complex and two additional production halls in Ottendorf-Okrilla

Delivery of large area glass coating systems for the photovoltaics industry begins

FHR becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of centrotherm photovoltaics AG

Construction and delivery of the first CVD processing system for atomic layer deposition (ALD) on 300 mm wafers

Development of innovative roll-to-roll system solutions for web coating

Commissioning of the new construction at the Ottendorf-Okrilla site

First certification in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001

Manufacturing and delivery of the first RIE plasma etching system for R&D applications

Start of strategic collaboration with leading industrial customers to develop complex coating systems

Expansion and enhancement of production and bonding technologies for large sputtering targets

Relocation of the company headquarters from Dresden to Ottendorf-Okrilla

Development of new cluster and inline system solutions for vacuum coating

FHR Anlagenbau GmbH is founded in Dresden after reunification of Germany by three engineers of the former VEB Elektromat

Merger of VEB Elektromat Dresden and the Institute for Microelectronics Dresden to become the VEB Centre for Research and Technology in Microelectronics (ZFMT)

Development and manufacturing of the first sputtering systems for industry-related vacuum coatings in Dresden

VEB Elektromat Dresden is founded as a supplier of technological equipment for the production of semiconductor components

Observation of the electrode sputtering phenomenon by William R. Grove

We celebrated our 25th anniversary in September 2016

FHR employees with their partners and some customers and friends of our company in the Quality Plaza Hotel in Dresden

Torsten Winkler (CEO) & Dr. Fendler (†) cutting the birthday cake

Colourful entertainment programme with standard and latin dances

A wonderful evening is over

Read more about our further subjects