AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition
    Advanced Surface Engineering Thursday Sessions
       Session SE+PS-ThM

Invited Paper SE+PS-ThM1
A 60 Year Perspective on Developments in Plasma Assisted PVD Processes for Enhanced Surface Engineered Performance

Thursday, October 31, 2013, 8:00 am, Room 203 C

Session: Pulsed Plasmas in Surface Engineering (8:00-10:00 am)/Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas (10:40 am-12:00 pm)
Presenter: A. Matthews, University of Sheffield, UK
Correspondent: Click to Email
Over the past 60 years there have been many developments in PVD technology which have contributed to the successful emergence of the technological discipline which we now know as Surface Engineering. There now exist many products which could not even function without these developments, and other products whose performance so far-exceeds what was previously possible that they can offer improvements in measures such as productivity which are many hundreds (if not thousands) of times better than previously achievable. We can see these benefits in all major industrial sectors, especially aerospace, automotive, energy and healthcare. This paper highlights how these product enhancements have been achieved through a combination of plasma process developments and materials systems developments. The plasma processes have included ionisation enhancing systems such as thermionic assistance, magnetic confinement and pulsed-plasmas, and the materials developments have included multi-layered and nanocomposite combinations of phases which have allowed the creation of surfaces with mechanical and chemical properties which were previously unachievable. We can now even create “duplex” engineered surfaces which combine plasma assisted diffusion treatments with optimised coatings, which allow the use of substrate materials (such as titanium and aluminium alloys) which were previously considered unsuitable for heavily-loaded tribological contacts in arduous conditions. The progress in process and performance enhancements is charted with examples from each decade over the past 60 years.