DLC Coating System and Process and Apparatus for Making Coating System

• US 20080311310A1
• Filed: 01/11/2008
• Published: 12/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oerlikon Trading AG (OC Oerlikon Corporation AG)
• Original Assignee: Oerlikon Trading AG (OC Oerlikon Corporation AG)
• Inventors: Massler, Orlaw, Grischke, Martin, Michler, Thorsten, Wohlrab, Christian, Eberle, Hubert, Pedrazzini, Mauro
• Granted Patent: US 7,601,405 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 427/534
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/029 Graded interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/26 Deposition of carbon only
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/044 coatings specially adapted for cutting tools or wear applications
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/046 with at least one amorphous inorganic material layer, e.g. DLC, a-C:H, a-C:Me, the layer being doped or not
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/048 with layers graded in composition or physical properties
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/42 characterized by the composition of the alternating layers
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 33/043 Sliding surface consisting mainly of ceramics, cermets or hard carbon, e.g. diamond like carbon [DLC]
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32055 Arc discharge
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24975 No layer or component greater than 5 mils thick
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/252 Glass or ceramic [i.e., fired or glazed clay, cement, etc.] [porcelain, quartz, etc.]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/265 1 mil or less
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/30 Self-sustaining carbon mass or layer with impregnant or other layer

Abstract

A process and an arrangement by means of which it is possible to generate a layer system for the protection against wear, for the protection against corrosion and for improving the sliding properties or the like, which has an adhesive layer for the arrangement on a substrate, a transition layer for the arrangement on the adhesive layer and a cover layer of an adamantine carbon, the adhesive layer including at least one element from the Group which contains the elements of the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th Subgroup and silicon, the transition layer comprising carbon and at least one element from the above-mentioned Group, and the cover layer consisting essentially adamantine carbon, the layer system having a hardness of at least 15 GPa, preferably at least 20 GPa, and an adhesion of at least 3 HF.

Claims

1. A process for producing a layer system for the protection against wear, for the protection against corrosion and for improving the sliding properties, having an adhesive layer for the arrangement on a substrate, a transition layer for the arrangement on the adhesive layer and a cover layer of an adamantine carbon,

comprising

a) charging the substrate into a vacuum chamber and pumping down to a vacuum of a starting pressure of less than 10⁻

4 mbar, preferably 10<sup>−

5</sup> mbar,

b) cleaning a surface of the substrate,

c) plasma-aided vapor-depositing of the adhesive layer on the substrate,

d) applying the transition layer to the adhesion layer by simultaneous plasma-aided vapor depositing of adhesion layer constituents and depositing carbon from the gas phase,

e) applying the adamantine carbon layer on the transition layer by a plasma-aided depositing of carbon from the gas phase, wherein

at least during process steps c), d) and e), a substrate bias voltage is applied to the substrate, and at least during process steps d) and e), the plasma is stabilized by a longitudinal magnetic field, and wherein the magnetic flux course of the magnetic field is produced by two electromagnetic coils bounding the vacuum chamber on opposite sides thereof and current is introduced such that a mutually reinforcing magnetic field is created which is directed in the same direction at both coils, or the magnetic flux course of the magnetic field is also produced by only one coil for a smaller chamber, and the magnetic field is variable with respect to time and space for counteracting secondary plasmas in that the coil currents are displaced together with one another or are displaced against one another.

2. The process according to claim 1, the cleaning of the substrate surface comprises at least one of a heating step and an etching step.

3. The process according to claim 2, wherein the heating step takes place by at least one of radiant heating, inductive heating and by electron bombardment.

4. The process according to claim 3, wherein the electron bombardment is caused by the ignition of a low-voltage arc and the simultaneous application of a continuous AC or AC superimposed bias voltage, as particularly a pulsed positive substrate bias voltage.

5. The process according to claim 2, wherein the etching step is carried out by ion etching, by means of at least one of a noble gas and hydrogen as the process gas, a low-voltage arc being ignited and a continuous negative substrate bias voltage being applied to the substrate.

6. The process according to claim 2, wherein the etching step is carried out by ion etching by means of at least one of a noble gas and hydrogen as a process gas, and an AC or AC superimposed substrate bias voltage, being applied.

7. The process according to claim 2, wherein the vapor depositing of the adhesive layer takes place one of by PVD processes, plasma CVD processes, cathodic sputtering and evaporation out of crucible by means of a low voltage arc.

8. The process according to claim 7, wherein the vapor depositing of the adhesive layer is aided by an additional low-voltage arc discharge and a negative substrate bias voltage is applied to the substrate.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein, for the ignition of a plasma, a noble gas or a noble gas/hydrogen mixture, is fed into the vacuum chamber.

10. The process according to claim 1, wherein the transition layer is formed by an isochronous vapor depositing of at least one element from the Group which contains the elements from the 4th, 5th and 6th Subgroup and silicon, and a plasma-aided depositing of carbon from the gas phase, additionally, a carbon-containing gas, being used as the reaction gas.

11. The process according claim 10, wherein, as the thickness of the transition layer increases, the fraction of the carbon depositing is increased continuously or in steps.

12. The process according to claim 1, wherein, the adamantine carbon layer forming the cover layer is generated by the plasma CVD deposition of carbon from the gas phase with a carbon-containing gas being used as the reaction gas.

13. The process according to claim 10, wherein the reaction gas for depositing carbon, in addition to the carbon-containing gas, comprises at least one hydrogen and a noble gas.

14. The process according to claim 13, wherein, during the depositing of the cover layer made of adamantine carbon, at least one of the fraction of the carbon-containing gas is increased and the fraction of the noble gas is lowered.

15. The process according to claim 1, wherein a unipolar or bipolar substrate bias voltage is applied to the substrate, which is pulsed in a medium frequency range of from 1 to 10,000 kHz.

16. The process according to claim 15, wherein the substrate bias voltage is sinusoidal or is pulsed such that long negative and short positive pulse periods or large negative and low positive amplitudes are applied.

17. The process according to claim 1, wherein said at least one of the application of the adhesive layer and the transition layer and the cover layer of adamantine carbon takes place at a pressure of from 10⁻

4 mbar to 10<sup>−

2</sup> mbar.

18. The process according to claim 1, wherein the substrate surface cleaning comprises removing volatiles from the substrate surface.

19. The process according to claim 1, wherein the substrate surface cleaning comprises igniting a noble gas plasma.

20. The process according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic fields adjustments take place periodically, in steps or continuously and thus the formation of stable secondary plasmas can be avoided.

21. The process according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic field is built up by Helmholtz coils, and the substrate current and thus the plasma intensity are directly proportional to the coil currents and thus to the magnetic field buildup.

22. The process according to claim 1, wherein, in addition to the longitudinal magnetic field that penetrates the entire vacuum chamber, additional local magnetic fields are provided by permanent magnetic systems on the walls bounding the vacuum chamber.