SELF-LUBRICATING DIAMOND-LIKE COATINGS BY A SIMULTANEOUS SPUTTER DEPOSITION/ION IMPLANTATION PROCESS

THE USE OF ION BEAMS AS A MEANS OF ENHANCING THE PROPERTIES OF DEPOSITED THIN FILMS HAS ATTRACTED CONSIDERABLE INTEREST IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGETICALLY-ENHANCED ION DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN A NEW GENERATION OF EXOTIC COATINGS WITH NEAR-THEORETICAL DENSITIES, VERY HIGH HARDNESS, AND, AT THE SAME TIME, A CAPACITY OF SELF-LUBRICATION. SPIRE CORPORATION PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SIMULTANEOUS SPUTTER-COATING ION IMPLANTATION TECHNIQUE FOR CREATION OF DIAMOND-LIKE THIN FILMS WITH EXCELLENT ADHESION AND PARAMETERS CLOSE TO THOSE OF THE BULK MATERIAL. IN THIS APPROACH A THIN LAYER OF MATERIAL (FOR EXAMPLE, BORON), IS ION-SPUTTERED ONTO A SURFACE THAT IS CONCURRENTLY IMPLANTED WITH A STEADY BEAM OF IONS (FOR EXPAMPLE, NITROGEN). THE COATINGS SYNTHESIZED BY THIS TECHNIQUE (FOR EXAMPLE, I-BN) ARE EXPECTED TO BE HARD AND WEAR-RESISTANT BUT TO TRANSFORM TO A SELF-LUBRICATING FORM UNDER LOAD. THIS NOVEL TECHNIQUE IS EXPECTED TO BE USEFUL FOR DEPOSITION OF DIAMOND-LIKE COATINGS SUCH AS I-CARBON AND I-BORON NITRIDE, AND ALOS SUCH REFRACTORY MATERIAS AD B4C, TIN, TIC AND TIB2.