The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 03, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 24, 1998
Michael A. Nastasi, Espanola, NM (US);
Kevin C. Walter, Los Alamos, NM (US);
Donald J. Rej, Los Alamos, CA (US);
The Regents of the University of California, Los Alamos, NM (US);
Abstract
Process for forming adherent coatings using plasma processing. Plasma Immersion Ion Processing (PIIP) is a process where energetic (hundreds of eV to many tens of keV) metallic and metalloid ions derived from high-vapor-pressure organometallic compounds in a plasma environment are employed to deposit coatings on suitable substrates, which coatings are subsequently relieved of stress using inert ion bombardment, also in a plasma environment, producing thereby strongly adherent coatings having chosen composition, thickness and density. Four processes are utilized: sputter-cleaning, ion implantation, material deposition, and coating stress relief. Targets are placed directly in a plasma and pulse biased to generate a non-line-of-sight deposition without the need for complex fixturing. If the bias is a relatively high negative potential (20 kV-100 kV) ion implantation will result. At lower voltages (50 V-10 kV), deposition occurs, and the extent of the surface modification can routinely be extended between 1 &mgr;m and 10 &mgr;m. By combining plasma based implantation and film deposition, coatings with greatly reduced stress are possible, allowing the ultimate coating thickness to be expanded to tens of microns.