Thin films of nickel-copper binary oxynitride (NiCuO.sub.xN.sub.y) were deposited on the surface of AISI 3161 stainless steel and glass substrates using reactive phase RF sputtering with a thickness between 700 and 2100 nm under different deposition conditions from a bimetallic precursor target of nickel and copper under specific conditions, such as: base pressure, working pressure, argon flow, oxygen flow, nitrogen flow, power the NiCu precursor target, target-substrate distance and deposition time. The films were characterized and made it possible to carry out a preliminary study of biocompatibility and a characterization according to their optical properties

A sputtering target that is less likely to cause abnormal discharge is manufactured. A method for manufacturing a sputtering target includes performing multi-stage polishing on a sputtering surface of a target material having a Vickers hardness of 100 or less being made of metal by using a plurality of abrasives having different grit numbers in ascending order of grit number from a small grit number to a large grit number.

Electrochromic devices and methods may employ the addition of a defect-mitigating insulating layer which prevents electronically conducting layers and/or electrochromically active layers from contacting layers of the opposite polarity and creating a short circuit in regions where defects form. In some embodiments, an encapsulating layer is provided to encapsulate particles and prevent them from ejecting from the device stack and risking a short circuit when subsequent layers are deposited. The insulating layer may have an electronic resistivity of between about 1 and 10.sup.8 Ohm-cm. In some embodiments, the insulating layer contains one or more of the following metal oxides: aluminum oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, silicon aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, tungsten oxide, nickel tungsten oxide, and oxidized indium tin oxide. Carbides, nitrides, oxynitrides, and oxycarbides may also be used.

The present disclosure provides a razor blade coating by a physical vapor deposition method through performing a deposition with a single composite target composed of dissimilar materials with their area ratio defined to be varied in the single composite target in the direction of transferring the razor blade subject to the deposition, thereby forming a single layer in which the composition ratio of the dissimilar materials gradually changes in the thickness direction of the coating layer to improve the durability of the razor blade coating layer.

A new technique, referred to as PSBEE, is disclosed and enables fabrication of freestanding nanomembranes. The PSBEE technique enables fabrication and synthesis of nanomembranes comprising 2D high entropy alloys and 2D metallic glasses and may be extended to ceramics and semiconductors, thereby enabling the fabrication of large-scale freestanding nanomembranes across a wide range of materials, including those deemed to have a great potential for future functional and structural use. To form nanomembranes using PSBEE, a plurality of membranes may be prepared and subjected to thermoplastic compression. Afterwards, one of the membranes may be removed and the remaining membranes may undergo additional thermoplastic compression in the presence of a Si substrate. Once a threshold level of smoothness is achieved, a coating or film may be applied and then separated from the final plate.

The present disclosure provides an improvement to razor blade coating by a physical vapor deposition method, by forming a hard coating layer as a thin coating layer in which chromium boride, which is a nanocrystalline structure having high hardness, is dispersed in an amorphous mixture of chromium and boron, thereby improving the strength and hardness of the thin coating layer and securing the bonding force by chromium in the amorphous mixture between the hard coating layer and a blade substrate on which an edge of the razor blade is formed.

A brake disk or drum has at least one working surface which opposes a braking member such as a brake pad or shoe. A plurality of spaced, raised island formations are provided across the working surface, with channels extending between the island formations. Each raised island formation has an outer surface which contacts a brake pad or brake shoe during braking.

The present disclosure provides a metal surface protective layer and a preparation method thereof. The metal surface protective layer includes a base powder layer, a medium powder layer, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) metal coating and a transparent powder layer from inside to outside. The PVD metal coating is obtained by a magnetron vacuum sputtering method. The PVD metal coating at least includes a mixed coating adopting two targets: a NiCr alloy and pure chromium.

Electrochromic devices and methods may employ the addition of a defect-mitigating insulating layer which prevents electronically conducting layers and/or electrochromically active layers from contacting layers of the opposite polarity and creating a short circuit in regions where defects form. In some embodiments, an encapsulating layer is provided to encapsulate particles and prevent them from ejecting from the device stack and risking a short circuit when subsequent layers are deposited. The insulating layer may have an electronic resistivity of between about 1 and 10.sup.8 Ohm-cm. In some embodiments, the insulating layer contains one or more of the following metal oxides: aluminum oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, silicon aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, tungsten oxide, nickel tungsten oxide, and oxidized indium tin oxide. Carbides, nitrides, oxynitrides, and oxycarbides may also be used.

Surface having properties for reducing diffuse light due to water condensation, wherein the antifog means consist in atomic aggregates adhered to and dispersed over the surface, wherein the aggregates are selected among the transition metals and the silicon. It is also related to a method for obtaining a surface having properties for reducing diffuse light due to water condensation a wavelength selected in the range from 100 nm to 50 micrometers, comprising the steps of selecting the wavelength, obtaining a glass or polymer surface that has been subjected to optical polishing and adhering to the surface atomic aggregates which are selected among the transition metals and the silicon with a separation between them being lower than or having an order of the selected wavelength selected. Thus a durable antifogging surface is obtained.