Monsanto Company

Diamonex, Incorporated

Morgan Chemical Products, Inc.

Rudolph Hugo Petrmichl

Fred M Kimock

Bradley J Knapp

Leonard Joseph Mahoney

Brian Kenneth Daniels

Norman Donald Galvin

David Ward Brown

Ray Hays Venable

Edward George Thear

Victor M Zeeman, Jr

Melissa Baylog

Rickey Leonard Salter

Florian Joseph Fodor

Ray Hays Venable Iii

A unique Hall-Current ion source apparatus is used for direct ion beam deposition of DLC coatings with hardness values greater than 10 GPa and at deposition rates greater than 10 &angst; per second. This ion source has a unique fluid-cooled anode with a shadowed gap through which ion sources feed gases are introduced while depositing gases are injected into the plasma beam. The shadowed gap provides a well maintained, electrically active area at the anode surface which stays relatively free of non-conductive deposits. The anode discharge region is insulatively sealed to prevent discharges from migrating into the interior of the ion source. A method is described in which a substrate is disposed within a vacuum chamber, coated with a coating of DLC or Si-DLC at a high deposition rate using a Hall-Current ion source operating on carbon-containing or carbon-containing and silicon-containing precursor gases, respectively. The method is particularly advantageous for producing thin, hard, wear resistant DLC and Si-DLC coatings for magnetic transducers and media used for magnetic data storage applications.

Method and apparatus for deposition of diamond-like carbon and silicon-doped diamond-like carbon coatings from a hall-current ion source

Ion beam process for deposition of highly abrasion-resistant coatings

A method is provided for manufacturing a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coated optical phase-change recording medium for use with near-field optical head devices and which exhibits superior wear resistance and improved lifetime. According to the method, the surface of a composite optical phase-change media structure deposited onto a substrate is subjected to ion beam deposition of a DLC over-coat to a thickness of no greater than about 450 .ANG.. Preferably the DLC is ion beam deposited onto the phase-change recording layer at the surface of the medium structure or onto a germanium-containing adhesion-promoting interlayer to achieve the desired adhesion of the DLC to the surface of the medium structure.

Diamond-like carbon over-coats for optical recording media devices and

A unique Hall-Current ion source apparatus is used for direct ion beam deposition of DLC coatings with hardness values greater than 10 GPa and at deposition rates greater than 10 .ANG. per second. This ion source has a unique fluid-cooled anode with a shadowed gap through which ion sources feed gases are introduced while depositing gases are injected into the plasma beam. The shadowed gap provides a well maintained, electrically active area at the anode surface which stays relatively free of non-conductive deposits. The anode discharge region is insulatively sealed to prevent discharges from migrating into the interior of the ion source. A method is described in which a substrate is disposed within a vacuum chamber, coated with a coating of DLC or Si-DLC at a high deposition rate using a Hall-Current ion source operating on carbon-containing or carbon-containing and silicon-containing precursor gases, respectively. The method is particularly advantageous for producing thin, hard, wear resistant DLC and Si-DLC coatings for magnetic transducers and media used for magnetic data storage applications.

Method for deposition of diamond-like carbon and silicon-doped

An abrasion-resistant dielectric composite product is described comprising a substrate and an abrasion wear resistant coating material comprising carbon, hydrogen, silicon, and oxygen and a dielectric material. An improved method is provided for the deposition of highly durable and abrasion-resistant multilayer dielectric antireflective coatings and reflective colored mirror coatings onto plastic lenses such as ophthalmic lenses, safety lenses, sunglass lenses, and sports optics. An adhesion-enhancing polymer layer may be deposited onto the plastic substrate prior to deposition of the abrasion-resistant first coating layer. The multilayer dielectric coating structure consists of a transparent, highly abrasion-resistant first coating, and a second dielectric coating composed of at least one layer of dielectric material. The abrasion-resistant first coating layer is deposited by ion-assisted plasma deposition from mixtures of organosiloxane or organosilazane precursor gases and oxygen, and has the properties of Nanoindentation hardness in the range of about 2 GPa to about 5 GPa, a strain to microcracking greater than about 1.5% and less than about 3.5%, a transparency greater than 85% throughout the visible spectrum, and an abrasion resistance greater than or equal to the abrasion resistance of glass. The preferred method for deposition of the abrasion-resistant first coating layer is plasma ion beam deposition using an organosiloxane precursor gas and oxygen. Optimum abrasion-resistance is obtained when the first coating layer thickness is in the range of about 5 microns to about 20 microns. The thickness, refractive index, and number of the dielectric layers in the second coating are chosen to produce the desired optical effects of either antireflection, or reflected color. Optimum environmental durability and abrasion-resistance is obtained by producing highly dense dielectric coatings by ion beam assisted electron beam evaporation, magnetron sputtering, ion beam assisted magnetron sputtering, ion beam sputtering, and ion-assisted plasma deposition, including plasma ion beam deposition, from precursor gases.

Highly durable and abrasion-resistant dielectric coatings for lenses

The invention provides a thermal print head with a protective coating of silicon-doped diamond-like carbon (Si-DLC) which imparts superior wear resistance, and improved lifetime. The Si-DLC is comprised of the elements C, H, Si and possibly O, N and Ar. The highly wear and abrasion-resistant Si-DLC diamond-like carbon coating is deposited by ion-assisted plasma deposition including direct ion beam deposition and capacitive radio frequency plasma deposition, from carbon-containing and silicon-containing precursor gases consisting of hydrocarbon, silane, organosilane, organosilazane and organo-oxysilicon compounds, or mixtures thereof. The resulting Si-DLC coating has the properties of Nanoindentation hardness in the range of approximately 10 to 35 GPa, thickness in the range of approximately 0.5 to 20 micrometers, dynamic friction coefficient of less than approximately 0.2, and a silicon concentration in the range of approximately 5 atomic % to approximately 40 atomic %. Optimum performance is obtained when the Si-DLC coating hardness is in the range of approximately 15 to 35 GPa, preferably in the range of about 15 GPa to about 19 GPa, and the Si-DLC layer thickness is in the range of approximately 2 micrometers to approximately 10 micrometers, dynamic friction coefficient of less than approximately 0.15, and a silicon concentration in the range of approximately 10 atomic % to 30 atomic %, preferably in the range of about 15 atomic percent to about 24 atomic percent.

Highly wear-resistant thermal print heads with silicon-doped

Plasma beam apparatus and method for the purpose of vacuum processing temperature sensitive materials at high discharge power and high processing rates. A gridless, closed or non-closed Hall-Current ion source is described which features a unique fluid-cooled anode with a shadowed gap through which ion source feed gases are introduced while depositing feed gases are injected into the plasma beam. The shadowed gap provides a well maintained, electrically active area at the anode surface which stays relatively free of non-conductive deposits. The anode discharge region is insulatively sealed to prevent discharges from migrating into the interior of the ion source. Thin vacuum gaps are also used between anode and non-anode components in order to preserve electrical isolation of the anode when depositing conductive coatings. The magnetic field of the Hall-Current ion source is produced by an electromagnet driven either by the discharge current or a periodically alternating current.

Gridless ion source for the vacuum processing of materials

An ion beam deposition method is provided for manufacturing a coated substrate with improved wear-resistance, and improved lifetime. The substrate is first chemically cleaned to remove contaminants. Secondly, the substrate is inserted into a vacuum chamber onto a substrate holder, and the air therein is evacuated via pump. Then the substrate surface is bombarded with energetic ions from an ion beam source supplied from inert or reactive gas inlets to assist in removing residual hydrocarbons and surface oxides, and activating the surface. After sputter-etching the surface, a protective, wear-resistant coating is deposited by plasma ion beam deposition where a portion of the precursor gases are introduced into the ion beam downstream of the ion source, and hydrogen is introduced directly into the ion source plasma chamber. The plasma ion beam-deposited coating may contain one or more layers. Once the chosen coating thickness is achieved, deposition is terminated, vacuum chamber pressure is increased to atmospheric and the coated substrate products having wear-resistance greater than glass are removed from the chamber. These coated products may be ceramics, architectural glass, analytical instrument windows, automotive windshields, and laser bar code scanners for use in retail stores and supermarkets.

Ion beam process for deposition of highly wear-resistant optical coatings

An abrasion wear resistant coated substrate product is described comprising a substrate and an abrasion wear resistant coating material comprising carbon, hydrogen, silicon, and oxygen. The abrasion wear resistant coating material has the properties of Nanoindentation hardness in the range of about 2 to about 5 GPa and a strain to microcracking greater than about 1% and a transparency greater than 85% in the visible spectrum. The coated products of the present invention are suitable for use in optical applications such as ophthalmic lenses or laser bar code scanner windows. In the method for making the products, the substrate is first chemically cleaned to remove contaminants. In the second step, the substrate is inserted into a vacuum chamber, and the air in said chamber is evacuated. In the third step, the substrate surface is bombarded with energetic ions and/or reactive species to assist in the removal of residual hydrocarbons and surface oxides, and to activate the surface. After the substrate surface has been etched, a protective, abrasion-resistant coating is deposited by plasma or ion beam deposition. Once the chosen thickness of the coating has been achieved, the deposition process on the substrates is terminated, the vacuum chamber pressure is increased to atmospheric pressure, and the coated substrate products having improved abrasion-resistance are removed from the vacuum chamber.

Highly abrasion-resistant, flexible coatings for soft substrates

The invention is a method and apparatus for the RF plasma deposition of diamond-like carbon (DLC) and related hard coatings onto the surface of drills; especially microdrills such as printed circuit board drills and printed wire board drills, using a mounting means connected to a source of capacitively coupled RF power. A key feature of the apparatus is that the drills to be coated are the only negatively biased surfaces in the capacitively-coupled system. According to the method, the surface of the drills to be coated are first chemically de-greased to remove contaminants, and inserted into the electronically masked coating fixture of the present invention. The electronically masked fixture includes the powered electrode, the portion of the drills to be coated, an electrically insulated spacer, and an electrically grounded shield plate. Next, the loaded fixture is placed into a plasma deposition vacuum chamber, and the air in said chamber is evacuated. Gas is added to the vacuum chamber, and a capacitive RF plasma is ignited, causing the surface of the drills to be sputter-etched to remove residual contaminants and surface oxides, and to activate the surface. Following the sputter-etching step, a silicon-containing material layer is deposited by capacitive RF plasma deposition. This silicon-containing material layer may be either an adhesion layer for subsequent deposition of DLC, or may be 'Si-doped DLC' ('Si-DLC'). If this silicon-containing layer is an adhesion layer, the next step in the process is deposition of a top layer of either DLC or Si-DLC by capacitive RF plasma deposition.

Method and apparatus for deposition of diamond-like carbon coatings on

An ion beam deposition method is provided for manufacturing a coated substrate with improved abrasion resistance, and improved lifetime. According to the method, the substrate is first chemically cleaned to remove contaminants. In the second step, the substrate is inserted into a vacuum chamber, and the air in said chamber is evacuated. In the third step, the substrate surface is bombarded with energetic ions to assist in the removal of residual hydrocarbons and surface oxides, and to activate the surface. Alter the substrate surface has been sputter-etched, a protective, abrasion-resistant coating is deposited by ion beam deposition. The ion beam-deposited coating may contain one or more layers. Once the chosen thickness of the coating has been achieved, the deposition process on the substrates is terminated, the vacuum chamber pressure is increased to atmospheric pressure, and the coated substrate products having improved abrasion-resistance are removed from the vacuum chamber. The coated products of this invention have utility as plastic sunglass lenses, ophthalmic lenses, bar codes scanner windows, and industrial wear parts that must be protected from scratches and abrasion.

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Center Valley, PA, United States of America

Rudolph Hugo Petrmichl