Abstract: A hard coating containing at least one layer including chromium, aluminum, tantalum and nitrogen as main components and a chemical composition (AlaCrbTac)N in which the following conditions are satisfied: a=x, (1?c), b=(1?x)·(1?c), 0.60?x?0.70, and 0.01?c?0.5. The layer has an X-ray diffraction peak intensity ratio of I200/(I200+I111)?0.25. The application also relates to a reactive arc ion plating PVD process for making the hard coating.

Abstract: A coated body includes a body (1) with a body surface (3) and a coating system (20) deposited on at least a portion of the body surface (3). The coating system (20) includes at least one hard friction reducing coating deposited as an outermost layer (9) which exhibits droplets (10) at its surface. The outermost layer (9) includes molybdenum copper nitride and/or molybdenum nitride and copper nitride, and at least some of the droplets (10) consist mainly of copper. Preferably most of the largest droplets (10) consist mainly of copper.

Abstract: The invention relates to a vacuum chamber for the treatment of substances, comprising at least the following elements: heat supply elements for the heat supply into a treatment area of the vacuum chamber, in which at least one substrate (10) can be treated, a chamber wall (20), through which heat can be removed from the treatment area, comprising an inner and an outer chamber wall side, and a shielding wall (30), which is arranged between the chamber wall (20) and the treatment area, such that an averted shielding wall side regarding to the treatment area is placed opposite the inner chamber wall side, and characterized in, that the shielding wall side placed opposite the inner chamber wall side is at least partially, preferred largely applied with a first coating (31), which has an emission coefficient ??0.65.

Abstract: A hard material layer system with a multilayer structure, comprising alternating layers A and B, with A layers having the composition MeApAOnANmA in atomic percent and B layers having the composition MeBpBOnBNmB in atomic percent, where the thermal conductivity of the A layers is greater than the thermal conductivity of the B layers. MeA and MeB each comprise at least one metal of the group Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, and Al, pA indicates the atomic percentage of MeA and pB indicates the atomic percentage of MeB and the following is true: PA=PB, nA indicates the oxygen concentration in the A layers in atomic percent and nB indicates the oxygen concentration in the B layers in atomic percent and the following is true: nA<nB, and mA indicates the nitrogen concentration in the A layers in atomic percent and mB indicates the nitrogen concentration in the B layers in atomic percent and the following is true: pA/(nA+mA)=pB/(nB+mB).

Abstract: The present invention relates to a holder for a number of drills, which can advantageously be used for coating drill tips. The holders according to the invention make it possible to arrange the drills in the coating unit in such a way that their tips rest on a cylindrical wall and these can be rotated past a coating source at the same minimum distance. The holder comprises a first curved wall with holes, a second curved wall with holes or slits and a third wall which serves as stop for drills inserted in the holes of the first and second wall.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a wear resistant coating suitable to be deposited on cutting tool inserts for chip forming metal machining. The coating comprises at least two layers with different grain size, but with essentially the same composition. The coating is deposited by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD).

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for coating work pieces in a vacuum treatment system having a first electrode embodied as a target, which is part of an arc vaporization source. Using the first electrode, an arc is operated with an arc current and vaporizes material. A bias voltage is applied to a bias electrode, which includes a second electrode that is embodied as a work piece holder, together with the work pieces. Metal ion bombardment is carried out either to pretreat the work pieces or in at least one transition from one layer to an adjacent layer of a multilayer system, so that neither a significant material removal nor a significant material buildup occurs, but instead, introduces metal ions into a substrate surface or into a layer of a multilayer system.

Abstract: A workpiece having a coating, said coating comprising at least one TiXSi1-xN layer, characterized in that x?0.85 and the TixSi1-xN layer contains nanocrystals, the nanocrystals present having an average grain size of not more than 15 nm and having a (200) texture. The invention also relates to a process for producing the aforementioned layer, characterized in that the layer is produced using a sputtering process, in which current densities of greater than 0.2 A/cm2 arise on the target surface of the sputtering target, and the target is a TiXSi1-xN target, where x?0.85. An intermediate layer containing TiAlN or CrAlN is preferably provided between the TixSi1-xN layer and the substrate body of the workpiece.

Abstract: A jet-black coating that resists wear; first, at least one DLC layer with a high degree of hardness is applied to a component and then a gradient layer, whose density decreases in the direction toward the surface, is applied to this DLC layer. By means of the refraction index progression that this produces in the gradient layer, the gradient layer functions as a reflection-reducing layer.

Abstract: Evaporation source, in particular for use in a sputtering process or in a vacuum arc evaporation process, preferably a cathode vacuum arc evaporation process. The evaporation source includes an inner base body which is arranged in an outer carrier body and which is arranged with respect to the outer carrier body such that a cooling space in flow communication with an inlet and an outlet is formed between the base body and the carrier body. In accordance with the invention, the cooling space includes an inflow space and an outflow space, and the inflow space is in flow communication with the outflow space via an overflow connection for the cooling of the evaporation source such that a cooling fluid can be conveyed from the inlet via the inflow space the overflow connection and the outflow space to the outlet.

Abstract: A PVD layer system for the coating of workpieces encompasses at least one mixed-crystal layer of a multi-oxide having the following composition: (Me11-xMe2x)2O3, where Me1 and Me2 each represent at least one of the elements Al, Cr, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Nb, Ti, Sb or V. The elements of Me1 and Me2 differ from one another. The crystal lattice of the mixed-crystal layer in the PVD layer system has a corundum structure which in an x-ray diffractometrically analyzed spectrum of the mixed-crystal layer is characterized by at least three of the lines associated with the corundum structure. Also disclosed is a vacuum coating method for producing a mixed-crystal layer of a multi-oxide, as well as correspondingly coated tools and components.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for coating AI-Cr-0 coatings with the help of a PVD-coating process. The PVD-coating process is performed with the help of Al and Cr comprising targets which are doped with Si. The doping of Si prevents the forming of oxide islands on the target during the reactive coating process.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a target for an ARC source having a first body (3) of a material to be vaporized, which essentially comprises in one plane a surface which is intended to be vaporized, wherein the surface surrounds in this plane a central area, characterized in that in the central area a second body (7) is provided, which is preferably in the form of a disk and is electrically isolated from the first body (3), in such a way that the second body (7) can essentially provide no electrons for maintaining a spark.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a coating for high-temperature applications with tribological stress. The coating comprises a multi-layer system and a top lubrication layer, the top lubricant layer containing, as a main component, molybdenum.

Abstract: The invention relates to a PVD process for coating a substrate with a layer containing at least one microcrystalline metallic borocarbide phase. During the PVD process, the source output is pulsed such that the at least one peak of which the half intensity width allows conclusions to be drawn about the presence of a microcrystalline phase of the metallic borocarbide layer can be identified in the x-ray spectrum of a layer produced in this way at a substrate temperature below 600° C.

Abstract: A steel piston for an internal combustion engine may include a piston crown and a protective layer disposed on the piston crown. The protective layer may include an adhesion layer of Cr or CrN, which is present on a surface of the piston crown. The protective layer may include a functional layer, which is present on the adhesion layer. The functional layer may have at least one of (i) at least one layer (A) of CrN and (ii) at least one layer (B) of CrOn in the form of [(A)/(B)]a, and a may represent 1 to 100.

Abstract: A system that has a plate with a holder, in which the plate is centered in the holder both at room temperatures and at higher temperatures, independently of the thermal expansion of the plate and the holder, and in which the plate can freely expand in the holder at higher temperatures.

Abstract: The invention relates to a coating method for depositing a layer system formed from hard material layers on a substrate, by depositing at least one contact layer including the evaporation material on the surface of the substrate only by means of a cathodic vacuum arc evaporation source. After the depositing of the contact layer, at least one intermediate layer is deposited in the form of a nano-layer intermediate layer in a hybrid phase or as a nanocomposite layer, including the evaporation material and the discharge material, by parallel operation of a cathodic vacuum arc evaporation source and of a magnetron discharge source.

Abstract: A high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering process, wherein within a process chamber by means of an electrical energy source a sequence of complex discharge pulses is produced by applying an electrical voltage between an anode and a cathode in order to ionize a sputtering gas. The complex discharge pulse is applied for a complex pulse time. The cathode has a target comprising a material to be sputtered for the coating of a substrate, and the complex discharge pulse includes an electrical high-power sputtering pulse having a negative polarity with respect to the anode and being applied for a first pulse-time, the high-power sputtering pulse being followed by an electrical low-power charge cleaning pulse having a positive polarity with respect to the anode and being applied for a second pulse-time. The ratio ?1/?2 of the first pulse-time (?1) in proportion to the second pulse-time (?2) is 0.5 at the most.

Abstract: A plate-centering system that has a plate with a holder, in which the plate is centered in the holder both at room temperature and at higher temperatures, independently of the thermal expansion of the plate and the holder, and the plate can freely expand in the holder at higher temperatures. The invention relates in particular to a target having a frame-shaped target mount, which is very well suited for use in a coating source for high power pulsed magnetron sputtering of the target.