A superalloy target wherein the superalloy target has a polycrystalline structure of random grain orientation, the average grain size in the structure is smaller than 20 ?m, and the porosity in the structure is smaller than 10%. Furthermore, the invention includes a method of producing a superalloy target by powder metallurgical production, wherein the powder-metallurgical production starts from alloyed powder (s) of a superalloy and includes the step of spark plasma sintering (SPS) of the alloyed powder (s).

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a coated steel sheet on which a magnesium-aluminum alloy coating layer is formed, including: a steel sheet; and a coating layer configured to include a first magnesium-aluminum alloy layer formed on a top surface of the steel sheet and a second magnesium-aluminum alloy layer formed on a top surface of the first magnesium-aluminum alloy layer, wherein a magnesium content of the first magnesium-aluminum alloy layer is higher than that of the second magnesium-aluminum alloy layer.

A timepiece part includes: a substrate; and a first coating configured from a material containing cobalt as a primary component, and 26 mass % to 30 mass % of Cr, and 5 mass % to 7 mass % of Mo. The first coating has an average signal intensity of oxygen of 0 counts/sec to 150 counts/sec as measured by SIMS relative to a 1.0 m-thick reference film of a composition containing Co: 62.8 mass %, Cr: 28.2 mass %, Mo: 6.0 mass %, C: 1.5 mass %, and Ar: 1.5 mass %.

A timepiece part according to the invention includes: a substrate; and a first coating configured from a material containing cobalt as a primary component, and 26 mass % to 30 mass % of Cr, and 5 mass % to 7 mass % of Mo. The first coating has a surface with a percentage surface area increase of 0% to 1.2% as measured by atomic force microscopy against a reference flat surface.

Embodiments relate to a sputter chamber with a configurable surface in communication with a target material. A control system is in communication with the chamber and functions to prepare an alloy film by changing a composition of the configurable surface. As ingress gas is introduced to the chamber to interact with the changed composition, the interaction causes a reaction that produces an alloy film.

An intermediate layer forming method to form an intermediate layer formed between a base material and a DLC film using a PVD method includes: a Ti layer film-forming step of film-forming a Ti layer on a base material; and a TiC layer film-forming step of film-forming a TiC layer on the Ti layer, in which in the Ti layer film-forming step, an Ar gas is supplied into a chamber into which the base material is carried and a film-forming pressure is set to a pressure in a range of not less than 0.4 Pa and not more than 1 Pa to film-form the Ti layer, and in the TiC layer film-forming step, an Ar gas and a CH.sub.4 gas are supplied into the chamber, a film-forming pressure is set to a pressure in a range of 0.2 Pa or more to less than 0.4 Pa, and a second bias voltage higher in bias voltage than a first bias voltage applied to the base material in the Ti layer film-forming step and higher in bias voltage than 100 V is applied to the base material to film-form the TiC layer.

An interlayer configured for a composite substrate surface, the interlayer having a higher concentration of at least one first chemical element at the interface of the substrate surface and the innermost interlayer surface and a higher concentration of at least one second chemical element at the outermost interlayer surface is disclosed. Methods of forming the interlayer and providing functional properties to said composites are disclosed.

A metallic structure includes a first plurality of metal particles arranged in an amorphous structure; a second plurality of metal particles arranged in a crystalline structure having at least two grain sizes, wherein the crystalline structure is arranged to receive the amorphous structure deposited thereon; wherein the grain size is arranged in a gradient structure.

Embodiments relate to a sputter chamber comprising both a target surface and an anode surface. The sputter chamber has both an ingress and an egress to allow passage of a gas. The sputter chamber further includes a target substrate. A secondary material flexibly changes the composition of the target substrate in-situ by changing coverage of the target by the secondary material. Gas entering the sputter chamber interacts with the changed composition of the target. The interaction discharges a plasma alloy and the alloy condenses on the anode surface in the sputter chamber. The condensed alloy produces an alloy film.

The invention relates to an erosion protection coating (11), in particular, for gas turbine components, having a horizontally segmented and/or multi-layered construction. i.e., having at least one relatively hard layer (12) and having at least one relatively soft layer (13), wherein the relatively hard layer or each relatively hard layer as well as the relatively soft layer or each relatively soft layer are disposed on top of one another in an alternating manner, in such a way that an outer-lying layer, which forms an outer surface of the erosion protection coating, is formed as a relatively hard layer (12). According to the invention, the relatively hard layer or each relatively hard layer (12) as well as the relatively soft layer or each relatively soft layer (13) are formed as a ceramic layer in each case.