University of Virginia Patent Foundation

Other

Directed Vapor Technologies International

Derek Hass

Haydn N G Wadley

James F Groves

Kumar P Dharmasena

Yosef Marciano

Siegfried Schiller

Henry Morgner

Daniel Paul Christy

Douglas T Queheillalt

Goesta Mattausch

Haydn N Wadley

Daniel Lobo

Susie Eustis

Balvinder Gogia

A method is disclosed, which can comprise via a transonic gas jet, depositing a thin film of LiPON on a substrate via a directed vapor deposition process. The transonic gas jet transports a thermally evaporated vapor cloud comprising the LiPON, wherein, the transonic gas jet comprises one of (a) substantially entirely nitrogen (N) gas; or (b) nitrogen (N) gas as a dopant in a concentration greater than 10% by volume in an inert carrier gas.

Methods for evaporating and depositing high vapor pressure materials

A directed vapor deposition (DVD) method and system for applying at least one bond coating on at least one substrate for thermal barrier coating systems. To overcome the limitations incurred by conventional methods, the DVD system uses an electron beam directed vapor deposition (DVD) technique to evaporate and deposit compositionally and morphologically controlled bond coats at high rate. The present DVD system uses the combination of an electron beam and a combined inert gas/reactive gas carrier jet of controlled composition to create engineering films. In this system, the vaporized material can be entrained in the carrier gas jet and deposited onto the substrate at a high rate and with high materials utilization efficiency. The velocity and flux of the gas atoms entering the chamber, the nozzle parameters, and the operating chamber pressure can all be significantly varied, facilitating wide processing condition variation and allowing for improved control over the properties of the deposited layer.

Method and apparatus for application of metallic alloy coatings

The present inventions incorporate self-healing mechanisms into current and future EBC systems. Such approaches have the potential to form environmental protection materials (i.e. thermally grown silicate compositions) in-situ to enable the ability to provide environmental protection to SiC based ceramics even in the event that cracks or voids form from within the EBC layer. In this disclosure, novel, self-healing EBC systems are disclosed along with coating synthesis techniques required to deposit the materials, microstructures and architectures. This research is anticipated to result in a thermal/environmental barrier coating system (T/EBC) that provides improved durability over current coatings. These advancements will aid the use of Si-based ceramics in a range of high temperature applications such a gas turbine engines and heat exchangers. These advances will not only benefit military engines, but also commercial and industrial engines requiring greater performance.

Self-healing environmental barrier coating

Depositing pure aluminum and aluminum alloy coatings onto substrates using directed vapor deposition (DVD) method is presented herein. The aluminum alloys have decreased environmental impact both due to their composition and due to the use of DVD process with no hazardous precursors or waste. Corrosion resistance of DVD deposited aluminum and aluminum alloys is effective for protection of steel substrates. The invention includes the use of the DVD technique to apply aluminum and/or aluminum alloy coatings effective for corrosion protection; the use of plasma-activated DVD to enhance the density of aluminum and aluminum alloy coatings deposited at low substrate temperatures; the use of multi-source evaporation to control composition of aluminum alloys during DVD deposition; the application of aluminum and/or aluminum alloy coatings onto NLOS substrates can be used for corrosion protection.

Method for applying aluminum alloy coatings for corrosion protection of steel

Method and apparatus application of metallic alloy coatings

A methodology and system for applying coatings onto the interior surfaces of components, includes a vapor creation device, a vacuum chamber having a moderate gas pressure and an inert gas jet having controlled velocity and flow fields. The gas jet is created by a rarefied, inert gas supersonic expansion through a nozzle. By controlling the carrier gas flow into a region upstream of the nozzle an upstream pressure is achieved. The carrier gas flow and chamber pumping rate control the downstream pressure. The ratio of the upstream to downstream pressure along with the size and shape of the nozzle opening controls the speed of the gas entering the chamber. Vapor created from a source is transported into the interior regions of a component using binary collisions between the vapor and gas jet atoms. These collisions enable the vapor atoms to scatter onto the interior surfaces of the component and deposit.

Apparatus and method for applying coatings onto the interior surfaces of components and related structures produced therefrom

A method and apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating system () in communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate (). The method includes: depositing a first bond coat () on at least a portion of at least one substrate (); depositing a first thermal barrier coat () disposed on the bond coat (); whereby the deposition occurs in one or more chambers to form the thermal barrier coating system (); and wherein the deposition of the first bond coat () (or subsequent bond coats) and the deposition of the first thermal barrier coat () (or subsequent thermal barrier coats) is performed without out-of-chamber handling of the thermal barrier coating system ().

Reliant thermal barrier coating system and related methods and apparatus of making the same

A direct vapor deposition (DVD) method and apparatus for applying coating(s) on substrate(s), including: presenting at least one of the substrates to a chamber, presenting at least one evaporant source () in crucible () to the chamber; presenting at least one carrier gas stream () to the chamber using a ring-shaped () converging/diverging nozzle (); impinging at least one evaporant source with at least one electron beam in the chamber to generate an evaporated vapor flux in a main direction respective for any of the evaporant sources impinged by the electron beam; and guiding at least one of the generated evaporated vapor flux by at least one carrier gas stream from the ring shaped gap (), which is essentially parallel to the main direction and substantially surrounds the evaporated flux. The evaporated vapor flux at least partially coats at least one of the substrates.

Method and apparatus for efficient application of substrate coating

A direct vapor deposition (DVD) apparatus and method is taught, that provides a carrier gas flow entraining vapor atoms for the coating of regions on a substrate that are not in line-of-sight. The degree of non line-of-sight (NLOS) coating, hence thickness uniformity around the substrate is a sensitive function of the flow conditions. For a fixed background pressure in the region of deposition, an increase in the uniformity of the coating thickness is accomplished as the flow velocity is reduced. This improvement in uniformity is a result of an increase in the fraction of vapor atoms which deposit in NLOS positions on the substrate such as backside () of fiber () as indicated by vapor streamlines (). Vapor impact width (VIW) is the width of the vapor flux impacting on some area of the fiber. Front side coating (FSC) width is the vapor width of atoms impacting on the substrate frontside ().

Apparatus and method for high rate uniform coating, including non-line of sight

Plasma deposition apparatus () and method that allows metal or nonmetal vapor () to be generated by electron-beam evaporation, guides that vapor using a noble gas stream (containing reactive gases in cases of reactive evaporation), ionizes the dense directed gas and vapor stream at working pressures above about 0.0001 mbar using a hollow cathode plasma arc discharge (), and conveys the ionized vapor and/or gas stream towards the substrate () for impact on the surface at energies varying from thermal levels (as low as about 0.05 eV) up to about 300 eV.

Growing community of inventors

Charlottesville, VA, United States of America

Derek Hass