Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V.

Sandvik Ab

Other

Dr. Ing. H.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft

Fred Fietzke

Klaus Goedicke

Siegfried Schiller

Olaf Zywitzki

Jonathan Reschke

Bj&ouml;rn Ljungberg

Mats Sj&ouml;strand

Wolfgang Hempel

Tomas Hilding

Viveka Alfredsson

Reinhold Separautzki

Gunter Hotzsch

Volker Kirchhoff

Christoph Metzner

Falk Milde

Mats Ahlgren

Torsten Winkler

Henry Morgner

Torbj&ouml;rn Selinder

Manfred Neumann

Bert Scheffel

Rainer Labitzke

Michael Jungh&auml;hnel

Henrik Flaske

Fritz Kaeumle

Fritz Kaumle

Jens-Peter Heinß

Bernd-Georg KRÄTZSCHMAR

Jörn-Steffen Liebig

The present invention describes a coated cutting tool for metal machining. The coating is formed by one or more layers of refractory compounds of which at least one layer of fine-grained, crystalline &ggr;-phase alumina, Al O , with a grainsize less than 0.1 &mgr;m. The Al O layer is deposited with a bipolar pulsed DMS technique (Dual Magnetron Sputtering) at substrate temperatures in the range 450&deg; C. to 700&deg; C. preferably 550&deg; C. to 650&deg; C., depending on the particular material of the tool body to be coated. Identification of the &ggr;-phase alumina is made by X-ray diffraction. Reflexes from the (400) and (440) planes occurring at the 2&thgr;0- angles 45.8 and 66.8 degrees when using Cu radiation identify the &ggr;-phase Al O . The alumina layer is also very strongly textured in the &lsqb;440&rsqb;-direction. The Al O layer is virtually free of cracks and halogen impurities. Furthermore, the Al O layer gives the cutting edge of the tool an extremely smooth surface finish.

PVD Al2O3 coated cutting tool

Process and device for coating substrates utilizing bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering in the frequency range between 10 and 100 kHz, wherein the device includes at least three magnetron sources. Each of the at least three magnetron sources includes a target. At least two of the targets are connected to a potential-free bipolar power supply device. The at least three targets are arranged relative to the substrates in such a way that the substrates are located at least partially inside a discharge current during a coating of the substrates. A switching device is adapted to connect the targets to the bipolar power supply device. A technological predetermined program is used for controlling the switching device. The switching device connects at least two of the targets at a time to the bipolar power supply device according to the technologically predetermined program.

Process and device for the coating of substrates by means of bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering and the use thereof

The present invention describes a coating cutting tool for metal machining and a process for producing such tools. The coating is composed of one or more layers of refractory compounds of which at least one layer consists of nanocrystalline aluminum spinel of the type (Me) Al O where Me is a second metal and 0<x&lE;1, deposited by Physical Vapor Deposition.

PVD coated cutting tool and method of its production

The present invention relates to a process for producing a coated cutting tool consisting of a coating and a substrate, wherein at least one refractory layer consisting of fine-grained, crystalline &ggr;-Al O is deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering onto the moving substrate in a vacuum by pulsed magnetron sputtering in a mixture of a rare gas and a reactive gas at a pulse frequency set for 10 to 100 kHz. The deposition occurs with a rate of at least 1 nm/s with reference to a stationarily arranged substrate at a magnetron target power density in time average set for at least 10 W/cm . The substrate temperature is in the range 400 to 700&deg; C. and the flux of impinging particles onto each individual substrate is cyclically interrupted.

Method of making a PVD Al2O3 coated cutting tool

The present invention describes a coated substrate material. The coating is formed by one or more layers of refractory compounds of which at least one layer of fine-grained, crystalline &ggr;-phase alumina, Al O , with a grainsize less than 0.1 &mgr;m. The Al O layer is deposited with a bipolar pulsed DMS technique (Dual Magnetron Sputtering) at substrate temperatures in the range 450&deg; C. to 700&deg; C., preferably 550&deg; C. to 650&deg; C., depending on the particular substrate material. Identification of the &ggr;-phase alumina is made by X-ray diffraction. Reflexes from the ( ) and ( ) planes occurring at the 2&thgr;-angles 45.8 and 66.8 degrees when using Cu radiation identify the &ggr;-phase Al O . The alumina layer is also very strongly textured in the &lsqb;440&rsqb;-direction. The Al O layer is virtually free of cracks and halogen impurities. Furthermore, the Al O layer gives the cutting edge of the tool an extremely smooth surface finish.

Magnetron discharges are pulse-operated to avoid the so-called &ldquo;arcing&rdquo;. In the case of magnetron discharges from alternating current-fed magnetrons, the process is limited to the minor power of the energy supply because of the load-carrying capacity of the required electric components. When the magnetron discharges are fed by direct current, their effectiveness deteriorates because of the deposition of layers on the anode surfaces. The new process should enable a high supply power and prevent arcing. In magnetron discharges with at least two magnetron electrodes, the energy is supplied in such a way that at least one magnetron electrode is a cathode or anode and a number n of direct current pulses of said polarity is supplied. The poles of at least one magnetron electrode are then reversed and a number n of direct currents of this polarity are supplied. The process is carried on in this manner, the frequency of the direct current pulses being higher than that of the polarity reversals. The energy supply effectiveness is thus improved. This process and system enable the production of layers having the most different properties, for example for the glass, packaging, electronic, and machine construction industries.

Process and system for operating magnetron discharges

A device for the sputter application of hard material coatings, including an exhaustible vacuum chamber, at least one sputtering source for depositing a coating material, a plurality of fixtures for supporting a plurality parts to be coated, the fixtures being mounted on planet gears which are movable via a planetary drive, a centrally disposed heating device, a reactive gas inlet, and a plurality of movable screens for covering the at least one sputtering source, the screens being arranged to surround the fixtures, wherein the heating device, the screens, and the planetary drive comprise an assembly which is removable from the vacuum chamber.

Device for applying layers of hard material by dusting

The invention relates to a method for gloss coating articles or a portion of an article's surface and articles produced from this method. A corrosion-inhibiting polishing base coat is applied in a known fashion, after which a high-gloss layer produced by atomization, preferably magnetron atomization, is applied. Then, a transparent, wear-resistant top coat layer is applied in a known fashion. The articles can also be pretreated, if desired, and given a protective or other layers. By using this method, parts for vehicles, especially vehicle wheels, can be produced in a great variety of colors and with improved qualities.

Method for gloss coating articles

The present invention describes a coated cutting tool for metal machining. The coating is formed by one or more layers of a refractory compound of which at least one layer of fine-grained, crystalline &ggr;-phase alumina, Al,O,, with a grain size of less than 0.1 &mgr;m. The Al,O,layer is deposited with a bipolar pulsed DMS technique (Dual Magnetron Sputtering) at substrate temperatures in the range 450&deg; C. to 700&deg; C., preferably 550&deg; C. to 650&deg; C., depending on the particular material of the tool body to be coated. Identification of the &ggr;-phase alumina is made by X-ray diffraction. Reflexes from the (,) and (,) planes occurring at the 2&thgr;-angles 45.8 and 66.8 degrees when using Cu,radiation identify the &ggr;-phase Al,O,. The alumina layer is also very strongly textured in the &lsqb;(,)&rsqb;-direction. The Al,O,layer is virtually free of cracks and halogen impurities. Furthermore, the Al,O,layer gives the cutting edge of the tool an extremely smooth surface finish.

Method and device for pre-treatment of substrates

Process for ion-supported vacuum coating

Compound body of a vacuum coated sintered material and a process for its production. Such compound bodies, when coated in a known manner, have a carrier of sintered material coated with a layer that is thermally, mechanically and chemically unstable, with their surface showings cracks and being partially porous. These shortcomings are overcome via an improved eco-friendly vacuum deposition process, wherein at least one layer of a material, having an outer layer of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, is applied to the carrier of sintered material at a maximum of 800.degree. C., with this layer being completely crystalline and comprised of an .alpha.Al.sub.2 O.sub..sub.3 phase and possibly of a .gamma.Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 phase with a (440) texture, having a compressive stress of at least 1 GPa and a hardness of at least 20 GPa, with the Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 layer being deposited via reactive magnetron sputtering, wherein the magnetrons are pulse driven, the pulse frequency lies between 20 and 100 Khz and the deposition rate is at least 1 nm/s, with the resulting compound bodies being utilized for cutting treatments, particularly as cemented carbide inserts.

Compound body of vacuum-coated sintered material and process for its

Vacuum coated compound body and a process for its production. Such compound bodies, when coated in a known manner, have a carrier of a metal or of an alloy, a layer that is thermally, mechanically and chemically unstable, with their surface showing cracks and being partially porous. These shortcomings are overcome via an improved eco-friendly vacuum deposition process wherein at least one layer of a material having an outer layer is of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, is applied to the metal or alloy carrier at a maximum of 700.degree. C., with this layer being completely crystalline and comprised of an .alpha.Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 phase and possibly of a .gamma.Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 phase with a (440) texture, having a compressive stress of at least 1 Gpa and a hardness of at least 20 Gpa, with the Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 layer being deposited via reactive magnetron sputtering, wherein the magnetrons are pulse powered, the pulse frequency lies between 20 and 100 Khz, and the deposition rate is at least 1 nm/s, with the compound bodies being utilized for cutting treatments, particularly as drills, milling cutters, reamers, broaches or saw blades.

Vacuum-coated compound body and process for its production

Growing community of inventors

Dresden, Germany

Fred Fietzke