Look Ahead: Fast process for depositing ultrahard coatings

Cutting tool and wear parts manufacturers use diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings to increase wear resistance and reduce friction. Though coatings have improved over time, there are limitations on how thick a coating can be deposited and the time needed to apply the coatings.

Conventional DLC coatings, which have a practical total thickness limit of around 5µm, are deposited one or two atoms at a time. As a result, it can take more than 8 hours to deposit a 1µm-thick DLC coating.

To increase coating thickness and reduce deposition time, the new CS-50 deposition system from Duralar Technologies uses a process called DualArmor. This process can apply DLC coatings of 50µm or thicker—and apply them at rates averaging 15µm to 20µm per hour, with considerably higher rates possible. And where traditional systems spray coatings, limiting what can be coated to line of sight, the CS-50 can coat the inside and outside surfaces of metal parts.

The Duralar CS-50 deposition system can deposit thicker coatings than was previously possible or commercially feasible. Image courtesy of Duralar Technologies.