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.

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.

Disclosed is a medical instrument coating, being coated on the surface of a nickel-titanium alloy component of a medical instrument. The medical instrument coating comprises an elementary copper phase, an amorphous titanium-containing substance and a transition layer comprising a copper-nickel intermetallic phase. Also mentioned is a preparation method for the medical instrument coating. A medical instrument comprising a copper-titanium coating has good blood compatibility, and simultaneously can inhibit the endothelialization of the medical instrument surface, thereby improving the recovery rate of the medical instrument and prolonging the recovery time window; the copper-titanium coating belongs to the group of metal composite coatings, has a certain toughness and ductility, and avoids the large-amplitude deformation process of the medical instrument damaging the coating; and the mechanical property and the coating quality of the medical instrument comprising a fine nickel-titanium alloy component are guaranteed by the method for preparing the coating.

Disclosed is a medical instrument coating, being coated on the surface of a nickel-titanium alloy component of a medical instrument. The medical instrument coating comprises an elementary copper phase, an amorphous titanium-containing substance and a transition layer comprising a copper-nickel intermetallic phase. Also mentioned is a preparation method for the medical instrument coating. A medical instrument comprising a copper-titanium coating has good blood compatibility, and simultaneously can inhibit the endothelialization of the medical instrument surface, thereby improving the recovery rate of the medical instrument and prolonging the recovery time window; the copper-titanium coating belongs to the group of metal composite coatings, has a certain toughness and ductility, and avoids the large-amplitude deformation process of the medical instrument damaging the coating; and the mechanical property and the coating quality of the medical instrument comprising a fine nickel-titanium alloy component are guaranteed by the method for preparing the coating.

Provided is an oxide-containing magnetic material sputtering target wherein the oxides have an average grain diameter of 400 nm or less. Also provided is a method of producing an oxide-containing magnetic material sputtering target. The method involves depositing a magnetic material on a substrate by the PVD or CVD method, then removing the substrate from the deposited magnetic material, pulverizing the material to obtain a raw material for the target, and further sintering the raw material. An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic material target, in particular a nonmagnetic grain-dispersed ferromagnetic sputtering target capable of suppressing discharge abnormalities of oxides that are the cause of particle generation during sputtering.

The present disclosure provides a vacuum-processing apparatus for forming a metal film on a substrate by sputtering targets with ions of plasma, and then oxidizing the metal film, the apparatus including: a first target composed of a material having a property of adsorbing oxygen; a second target composed of a metal; a power supply unit configured to apply a voltage to the targets; a shutter configured to prevent particles generated from one of the targets from adhering to the other of the targets; a shielding member; an oxygen supply unit configured to supply an oxygen-containing gas to the substrate mounted on the mounting unit; and a control unit configured to perform supplying a plasma-generating voltage to the targets and sputtering the targets and supplying the oxygen-containing gas from the oxygen supply unit to the substrate.

Urethane (multi)-(meth)acrylate (multi)-silane compositions, and articles including a (co)polymer reaction product of at least one urethane (multi)-(meth)acrylate (multi)-silane precursor compound. The disclosure also articles including a substrate, a base (co)polymer layer on a major surface of the substrate, an oxide layer on the base (co)polymer layer; and a protective (co)polymer layer on the oxide layer, the protective (co)polymer layer including the reaction product of at least one urethane (multi) (meth)acrylate (multi)-silane precursor compound. The substrate may be a (co)polymeric film or an electronic device such as an organic light emitting device, electrophoretic light emitting device, liquid crystal display, thin film transistor, or combination thereof. Methods of making urethane (multi)-(meth)acrylate (multi)-silane precursor compounds and their use in composite multilayer barrier films are also described. Methods of using such barrier films in articles selected from a solid state lighting device, a display device, and combinations thereof, are also described.

Urethane (multi)-(meth)acrylate (multi)-silane compositions, and articles including a (co)polymer reaction product of at least one urethane (multi)-(meth)acrylate (multi)-silane precursor compound. The disclosure also articles including a substrate, a base (co)polymer layer on a major surface of the substrate, an oxide layer on the base (co)polymer layer; and a protective (co)polymer layer on the oxide layer, the protective (co)polymer layer including the reaction product of at least one urethane (multi) (meth)acrylate (multi)-silane precursor compound. The substrate may be a (co)polymeric film or an electronic device such as an organic light emitting device, electrophoretic light emitting device, liquid crystal display, thin film transistor, or combination thereof. Methods of making urethane (multi)-(meth)acrylate (multi)-silane precursor compounds and their use in composite multilayer barrier films are also described. Methods of using such barrier films in articles selected from a solid state lighting device, a display device, and combinations thereof, are also described.

A sputtering system and a sputtering method are provided. The sputtering system includes a first electrode, a magnet and a second electrode. The first electrode is an elongated tube having a first end and a second end downstream of the first end. The first end is configured to receive a gas flow and the second end is placed next to a substrate. The magnet surrounds at least a portion of the elongated tube and is configured to generate a magnetic field in a space within the elongated tube. The second electrode is disposed within the elongated tube. A voltage is configured to be applied between the first and second electrodes to generate an electric field between the first and second electrodes.

A method for producing a battery includes depositing, via sputter deposition, a coating on at least a portion of a cup shaped first housing part of the battery. The coating includes aluminium, chromium, tin, and/or an alloy having two or more of the group consisting of aluminium, chromium, and tin. The method also includes establishing an electrical connection between a current conductor of the battery and the cup-shaped first housing part of the battery and assembling the cup-shaped first housing part of the battery and a second housing part of the battery to form a housing of the battery. The housing has an interior space that includes a composite body including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator, and the current conductor. The cup-shaped first housing part has a circular or oval bottom and a ring-shaped side wall.