ICMCTF1998 Session G2: Scale-up, Manufacturing Aspects and Industrial Applications of Coatings

Wednesday, April 29, 1998 8:30 AM in Room Town & Country

Wednesday Morning

Start	Invited?	Item
8:30 AM	Invited	G2-1 Progress Towards Large-Scale CVD Diamond Production: Industrial Implications. S.F. Horne, E. Sevillano, R. Gat, M. Koch (ASTeX) Over the past several years, ASTeX has been pursuing a consistent strategy aimed at reducing diamond deposition costs for a variety of applications, including thermal management, SAW devices, and tribological coatings. The key components of this approach include exploiting the non-linear scaling of deposition rate with power density, sophisticated process development and control, and evolving reactor design to allow more uniform deposition, larger loads, and greater throughput. The current state of this effort is realized in the AX6650 -- a 100 kW microwave reactor with integrated real-time process feedback via optical diagnostics, incorporating a three-planet rotating stage. This reactor is optimized for large volume applications requiring low cost and high throughput, such as heat spreaders for semiconductor applications. In addition to this effort, ASTeX is also investigating low temperature deposition for various advanced applications including passive and active diamond for electronic devices. This program seeks to maximize growth rate and minimize substrate temperature using unconventional (CH4/CO2) chemistries, and to explore other key technologies (such as non-destructive surface preparation for enhanced nucleation) which are required to achieve integration of diamond into electronic devices. Recent results from these programs will be presented.
9:10 AM		G2-3 High Performance Me-CH Coatings for the Use on Precision Components M. Grischke, R. Wittorf, J. Schroeder, K. Bewilogua, J. Brand, T. Michler (Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films, Germany) Met-al con-tain-ing amor-phous hy-drog-en-at-ed car-bon coat-ings (Me-CH) are well known for their ex-cel-lent tri-bo-log-i-cal prop-er-ties. They have a great potential in the field of wear and friction reduction on precision components. The importance of this coating material is increasing continuously in a wide range of applications. However, the wear resistance of standard Me-CH coatings is still markedly lower than that of diamond like carbon (DLC). Today the deposition of DLC in an industrial scale as well as its adhesion are still in research. On the other hand, dc magnetron deposition techniques for Me-CH coatings with excellent adhesion have reached a high technological level. The aim of our work on Me-CH was to approach to the quality of DLC, especially with respect to the wear resistance. The Me-CH preparation was performed in industrial batch coaters by reactive dc magnetron sputtering in an argon acetylene mixture using targets of the materials Ti, W and WC. The process parameters gas composition, ion energy and ion current density were systematically varied. A comparison of the deposition rates, wear and adhesion of the coatings deposited with the different targets will be presented. Besides the coating properties, aspects like process stability and target costs will be considered.
9:30 AM	Invited	G2-4 Electronic Applications and Commercialization of Diamond Thermal Spreaders A.P. Malshe, W.D. Brown, T. Railkar, H.A. Naseem (University of Arkansas) Significant advances have been made over the past decade in the synthesis and processing of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond heat spreader substrates. Thermal management after cutting tools is likely to be another wide market for CVD diamond technology. This paper first discusses various forms of CVD diamond those can be implemented for the thermal management in the field of electronics. Further the paper will address the utilization of diamond heat spreaders in diverse applications such as LEDs, 3-D multichip modules (MCMs), power electronic packages, plastic packages etc. At the end the authors will comment on the various physical, thermal and electrical needs of diamond substrates and the requirement of manufacturing friendly synthesis and processing steps for the wider market realization.
10:10 AM		G2-6 Diamond-Like Carbon Films Deposited Using a Broad, Uniform Ion Beam from and RF Inductively Coupled Ch₄-Plasma Source B. Druz, S. DiStefano, A. Boccanfuso, A. Hayes, V. Kanarov (Veeco Instruments Inc.) A robust process of diamond-like carbon (DLC) film ion beam depositon from an RF inductively coupled CH₄ - plasma source (18 cm) has been reported recently¹. In this paper 3 - 400 nm thick DLC films with hardness in the range of 12-25 Gpa were deposited on various substrates using a broad, uniform ion beam (35cm CH₄ - plasma source). The developed process represents a significant advance in the ability: 1. To accomplish the desired balance betweenmechanical, optical, and electrical properties; 2. To improve step coverage when the film is deposited on patterned or rough substrates; 3. To carry out reliable fault-free and long duration operation. The ability of an O₂-plasma to etch hydrocarbon precipitates allowed us to utilize this procedure as an effective "on-line" ion source clean-up. Highly reproducible deposition rates (<5% from run to run for over several hundred hours) have been achieved by utilizing a CH₄-plasma conditioning procedure for the plasma-surface interaction stabilization. The deposition uniformity was within 5% over 9 inches. Deposition kinetics, mechanical, and electrical properties have been investigated and the potential for industrial application will be discussed. ¹B. Druz et al., Surface and Coatings Technology 86-87 (1996) 708-714.
10:30 AM	Invited	G2-7 Technology Transfer Issues For Hard Coatings in the Cutting Tool Industry W.C. Russell (Valenite, Inc.) Many factors must come together successfully to efficiently scale-up and transfer new coating technology into large-scale manufacturing. Connections between R&D and manufacturing must be synchronous on several levels involving technical, informational and human systems. A dedicated pilot plant is a resource few choose to support today, so R&D or manufacturing must supply this function. If R&D, then there must be unrestricted access to manufacturing equipment to solve scale-up issues. It is critical that they have parallel equipment and processing capability. Flexibility should be built into the design of equipment but balanced with automation. Modeling of CVD systems and processes can save much time in development and transfer of robust new technology. Infomation systems are critical in that coating data, SPC, capacity analyses and other measures should be shared. Manufacturing capacity should also be planned and set aside for transfer support work. Despite technology advances, the human or "people" issues are still the most important. Good communication should exist on all levels, teams should be cross-functional but with common goals, knowledge sharing should be systemic and all involved should know their customers. The issues are wide-ranging and complex but must all be addressed to ensure successful transfer of new coatings technologies.
11:10 AM		G2-9 New Hard/Lubricant Coating for Dry Machining H. Braendle, V.H. Derflinger (Balzers Limited, Liechtenstein) Environmental and economic considerations have emphasized the trend for more dry machining. Advanced wear resistant coatings with increased oxidation resistance such as PVD TiAlN offer an advantage for dry machining of cast iron and alloyed steel. While some important cutting operations are still not possible without coolants, further possibilities for dry drilling and tapping of steels are enabled by the recent approach using tools with hard coating layers topped with a lubricant layer. The combination of hard/soft coating layers allows improved chip flow with lowered coefficient of friction and reduced cutting force. In this work the hard/soft coating consists of a low-internal-stress TiAlN (hard layer) and WC/C (lubricant layer) of medium microhardness and low coefficient of friction. Both coating types are produced economically and reproducibly in the same Balzers production scale PVD coating system. Recent performance data from field tests will be presented.
11:30 AM		G2-10 WC/C Coating for Automotive Components M. Berger (Balzers Limited, Liechtenstein) More demanding performance criteria, component weight reduction and increased injection pressures subject car and engine components to exceptional loads and wear. To prevent galling and seizure due to high loads and inadequate lubrication, coatings with excellent friction and wear behavior and high load bearing capacity are required. A WC/C coating produced by PVD reactive sputtering is proven to work reliably under such conditions and is today applied in a large industrial scale to components of fuel injection pumps, gears and engines.
11:50 AM		G2-11 Sulfur Source Chemistry in Low Temperature MOCVD Process for Transition Metal Disulfide Coatings P.N. Gadgil (Simon Fraser University, Canada) A variety of novel sulfur sources have been evaluated to develop a low temperature, economical MOCVD process for transition metal disulfied coatings. These H2S, H2S + S2Cl2, t-C4H9SH, t-C4H9-S2-t-C4H9 and C3H6S. The metal sources were derived from carbonyls {general formulae: M(CO)n}. The criteria for sulfur source have been high vapor pressure, liquid state, low dissociation temperature and ability to generate S2 species in gas phase. Thermochemistry of dissociation of sulfur sources and the MOCVD process for deposition of iron yrite (FeS2) has been described in conjunction with Fe(CO)5 as an iron source. Propylene sulfide (C3H6S) a three member ring compound is the most suitable sulfur source for MOCVD process of FeS2 coatings. Results of instrumental analysis of pyrite coatings are described.