Plasma Immersion Ion Processing For Coating Of Hollow Substrates
AssigneeSouthwest Research Institute
InventorsRonghua WEI, Christopher RINCON, James H. ARPS
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for plasma ion deposition and coating formation. A vacuum chamber may be supplied formed by a hollow substrate having a length, diameter and interior surface. A plasma may be formed within the chamber while applying a negative bias to the hollow substrate to draw ions from the plasma to the interior surface of the hollow substrate to deposit ions onto the interior surface and forming a coating. The coating may have a Vickers Hardness Number (Hv) of at least 500.
Claims21
A method for plasma ion deposition and coating formation comprising:
- providing a vacuum chamber from a hollow substrate having a length, diameter and interior surface;
- reducing the pressure in said chamber;
- introducing a precursor gas and generating a plasma within said chamber;
- and
- applying a negative bias to said hollow substrate to draw ions from said plasma to said interior surface of said hollow substrate to form a coating wherein said coating has a Vickers Hardness Number (Hv) of at least 500.
9 The method of claim 1 wherein said ion plasma is formed from precursor gases selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbon compounds, silane compounds of the general formula SinH2n+2 wherein n has a value of 1-10, silicon carbide, silane compounds having aliphatic and/or aromatic functionality, perfluoropropane, hexafluoropropane, chromium containing organic compounds, titanium containing compounds, and combinations thereof.
A method for plasma ion deposition and coating formation comprising:
- providing a vacuum chamber from a hollow substrate having a length, diameter and interior surface including an electrode extending along all or a portion of said hollow substrate length;
- reducing the pressure in said chamber;
- generating a plasma within said chamber;
- applying a negative bias to said hollow substrate to draw ions from said plasma to said interior surface of said hollow substrate to form a coating wherein said coating has a Vickers Hardness Number (Hv) of at least 500.
Apparatus for plasma ion coating comprising:
- an electrically conductive hollow substrate having a length, diameter and interior surface capable of enclosing volume;
- a gas inlet capable of supplying one or more precursor gases to said enclosed volume wherein said one or more precursor gases is capable of forming a plasma;
- a device for evacuating said volume to a selected pressure level;
- and
- a power supply device capable of providing a pulsed voltage to negatively bias said hollow substrate and form plasma ions to draw said ions to said interior surface of said hollow substrate.
The apparatus of 15 wherein said hollow substrate has two end portions including two devices at each end portion for evacuating said volume to a selected pressure level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.