Airco, Inc.

Glen R Scheuermann

Kurt D Kennedy

Wayne E Phillips

E Darrell Erikson

A substrate or part holder is disclosed which allows rotation of at least two parts about their individual axes as well as rotation of all of the parts about a main axis. The part holder has a stub shaft for receiving each part, and a hollow housing attached to the end of a hollow shaft. An interior shaft is rotatable inside the hollow shaft and a central gear engages a gear on each stub shaft inside of the housing. Means are provided for mounting a part on each stub shaft outside of the housing. Rotation of the hollow shaft will cause rotation of all of the parts about the common axis, while any differential in rotation between the hollow shaft and the interior shaft will cause rotation of each part about the axis of the stub shaft to which it is attached.

Orbiting and rotating substrate

Rotatable substrate holder for use in vacuum

A coupling for use between two rotating shafts in a high-temperature, high-vacuum environment is described. The coupling includes a socket having two closed loop, axially spaced, interior bearing surfaces and a roller having two closed loop, axially spaced, exterior bearing surfaces for rolling contact with the interior bearing surfaces of the socket. The interior and exterior bearing surfaces make rolling contact at two radially opposed and axially spaced locations, and the second shaft is disposed at a desired angle with respect to the first shaft. Means are provided for preventing disengagement of the roller and shaft as they rotate. In a preferred embodiment, the angle between the shafts is constant as they rotate and the roller is sized so that it is easily removed from the socket when the axes of the shafts are approximately aligned. The coupling of this invention enables a substrate to be rotated while supported at a desired angle to a coating vapor source and a substrate heater inside an evacuated chamber.

Rotating shaft coupling for use in vacuum

An improved method is disclosed for coating substrates, such as turbine engine parts, at high rates by a physical vapor deposition process. The substrate to be coated and a vapor source, such as a metal alloy, heated by an electron beam, are placed in a chamber in which a gas pressure of greater than about 5 mT is maintained. When the source material is evaporated at a very high rate, such as greater than about 0.1 g/s or 13 g/s.m.sup. 2, the vapor is collimated and the collimation increases as the gas pressure or the evaporation rate increases. Collimation of the vapor allows a much higher deposition rate for a given evaporation power. Further, a much higher fraction of the evaporated material is deposited on the substrate. Despite the collimation, evaporated material deposits on areas of the substrate which are not in line-of-sight of the vapor source. If desired a substrate bias can be applied to bombard the substrate with ions before and during coating.

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Oakland, CA, United States of America

Glen R Scheuermann