Method of treating and coating substrates
First Claim
1. Method of treating a substrate, comprising:
- directing laser energy at a surface of the substrate, said substrate comprising a plurality of constituent elements, each constituent element of the substrate having an initial physical structure, and with the laser energy;
causing selected amounts of one or more of the constituent elements to move from within the substrate towards the surface of the substrate, thereby producing an increased concentration of the one or more constituent elements in a sub-surface region of the substrate immediately below the surface of the substrate;
vaporizing selected amounts of the one or more constituent elements from the sub-surface region; and
modifying the physical structure of the vaporized one or more constituent elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Energy, such as from one or more lasers, is directed at the surface of a substrate to mobilize and vaporize a constituent element (e.g., carbide) within the substrate (e.g., steel). The vaporized constituent element is reacted by the energy to alter its physical structure (e.g., from carbon to diamond) to that of a composite material which is diffused back into the substrate as a composite material. An additional secondary element, which can be the same as or different from the constituent element, may optionally be directed (e.g., sprayed) onto the substrate to augment, enhance and/or modify the formation of the composite material, as well as to supply sufficient or additional material for fabricating one or more coatings on the surface of the substrate. The process can be carried out in an ambient environment (e.g., without a vacuum), and without pre-heating or post-cooling of the substrate.
202 Citations
42 Claims
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1. Method of treating a substrate, comprising:
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directing laser energy at a surface of the substrate, said substrate comprising a plurality of constituent elements, each constituent element of the substrate having an initial physical structure, and with the laser energy; causing selected amounts of one or more of the constituent elements to move from within the substrate towards the surface of the substrate, thereby producing an increased concentration of the one or more constituent elements in a sub-surface region of the substrate immediately below the surface of the substrate; vaporizing selected amounts of the one or more constituent elements from the sub-surface region; and modifying the physical structure of the vaporized one or more constituent elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of fabricating a coating of non-uniform thickness on a substrate, comprising:
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directing laser energy at a surface of a substrate, and with the energy; causing selected amounts of one or more constituent elements to move from within the substrate towards the surface of the substrate; vaporizing selected amounts of the one or more constituent elements; modifying the physical structure of the vaporized one or more constituent elements; and forming a coating on the surface of the substrate from the vaporized one or more constituent elements; and further comprising; controlling the energy to impart a non-uniform thickness to the coating.
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42. A method of coating selected areas of a substrate, comprising:
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directing laser energy at selected areas of a surface of a substrate, and with the energy; moving selected portions of one or more constituent elements towards the surface of the substrate; vaporizing selected amounts of the one or more constituent elements; modifying the physical structure of the vaporized one or more constituent elements; and forming, from the vaporized and modified one or more constituent elements, a material in the sub-surface zone of the substrate; and further comprising; directing the laser energy at the selected areas of the substrate to fabricate a coating on the selected areas of the substrate.
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Specification