Method and apparatus for the production of thin film coatings
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsBao Feng, Mahmoud Taher, Andrew Shull, Eric Carlson, Conrad Klepper
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides a method for producing a coating. The method may include providing a substrate material and initiating a coating-deposition process to apply a coating material to the substrate material to produce a coating on the substrate material, wherein the coating includes a diamond-like carbon coating. The method may further include monitoring an intensity of hydrogen-alpha emission of a plasma produced during the coating-deposition process and adjusting at least one process variable of the coating-deposition process to facilitate production of the diamond-like carbon coating.
Claims20
A method for producing a coating, comprising:
- providing a substrate material;
- initiating a coating-deposition process to apply a coating material to the substrate material to produce a coating on the substrate material, wherein the coating includes a diamond-like carbon coating;
- monitoring an intensity of hydrogen-alpha emission of a plasma produced during the coating-deposition process;
- and
- adjusting at least one process variable of the coating-deposition process to maintain the intensity of hydrogen-alpha emission of the plasma within a predetermined range to facilitate production of the diamond like-carbon coating.
A deposition system for producing a coating on a substrate, comprising:
- a deposition chamber;
- at least one sensor configured to monitor an intensity of hydrogen-alpha emission produced within the deposition chamber;
- a control system configured to monitor one or more deposition system variables and to adjust at least one system variable to maintain the intensity of hydrogen-alpha emission within a predetermined range to facilitate production of a diamond-like carbon coating on the substrate.
A method for producing a coating, comprising:
- providing a substrate material;
- initiating a coating-deposition process to apply a coating material to the substrate material to produce a coating on the substrate material, wherein the coating includes a diamond-like carbon coating;
- monitoring an intensity of hydrogen-beta emission of a plasma produced during the coating-deposition process;
- and
- adjusting at least one process variable of the coating-deposition process to maintain the intensity of hydrogen-beta emission of the plasma within a predetermined range to facilitate production of the diamond like-carbon coating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.