AMORPHOUS AND CRYSTALLINE PHASES IN PVD COATINGS AFTER LASER TREATMENT

During the last decade, surface coating engineering has developed into a key technology throughout the world, especially due to the successes achieved in the optics and microelectronics sectors. First steps in the wear protection field were attained with coated carbides, pointing to substantial technical and economic potential in these areas. Sophistication of wear-protective coatings often reaches the limits of the technically possible. For this reason, processes incorporating two different methods and hence combining the specific advantages of each are increasingly being developed for the deposition of certain coatings. In the study presented here, physical vapour deposition technology was combined with laser surface treatment technology to produce amorphous and crystalline SiC coating phases and specialized carbon coatings.