Disclosed are an anode active material for lithium secondary batteries, the anode active material comprising: a core part including a carbon-silicon complex and having a cavity therein; and a coated layer which is formed on the surface of the core part and includes a phosphor-based alloy.

A method of electroless atomic layer deposition is described. The method electrolessly generates a layer of sacrificial material on a surface of a first material. The method adds doses of a solution of a second material to the substrate. The method performs a galvanic exchange reaction to oxidize away the layer of the sacrificial material and deposit a layer of the second material on the surface of the first material. The method can be repeated for a plurality of iterations in order to deposit a desired thickness of the second material on the surface of the first material.

Method and apparatus for producing metal-coated optical fiber involves providing a length of optical fiber having a glass fiber with or without a carbon layer surrounded by a liquid-soluble polymeric coating. The optical fiber is passed through a series of solution baths such that the fiber will contact the solution in each bath for a predetermined dwell time, the series of solution baths effecting removal of the polymer coating and subsequent electroless plating of metal on the glass fiber. The optical fiber is collected after metal plating so that a selected quantity of the metal-coated optical fiber is gathered, Preferably, the glass fiber passes through the series of solution baths without contacting anything except for the respective solution in each.

A method for fabricating a sensor includes coating an end-polished sapphire fiber with aluminum to produce a sapphire fiber having an aluminum coating, anodizing the aluminum coating to produce an aluminum oxide coating, and removing the aluminum oxide coating from a distal end of the sapphire fiber.

Shielding coatings are applied to polymer substrates for selective metallization of the substrates. The shielding coatings include a primer component and a hydrophobic top coat. The primer is first applied to the polymer substrate followed by application of the top coat component. The shielding coating is then selectively etched to form an outline of a desired current pattern. A catalyst is applied to the patterned polymer substrate followed by electroless metal plating in the etched portions. The portions of the polymer substrate which contain the shielding coating inhibit electroless metal plating. The primers contain aromatic heterocyclic compounds and the top coat contains hydrophobic alky organic compounds.

Embodiments of the invention include a method of initiating an optical fiber of a tip assembly to form a finished tip assembly. In some embodiments, at least a portion of a distal portion of the optical fiber is coated with an energy absorbing initiating material. In some embodiments, the initiating material is an enamel material including a mixture of brass (copper and zinc) flakes or aluminum flakes in a solution of organic solvents. After the initiating material dries, a diode laser is fired through the optical fiber. The laser energy is at least partially absorbed in the initiating material and ignites the organic solvents. This combustion melts the material of the optical fiber, and impregnates the optical fiber with the metal flakes of the initiating material. The resulting initiated optical fiber is thus permanently modified so that the energy applied through the fiber is partially absorbed and converted to heat.

A composite member includes: a substrate formed of a composite material containing a plurality of diamond grains and a metal phase; and a coating layer made of metal. The surface of the substrate includes a surface of the metal phase, and a protrusion formed of a part of at least one diamond grain of the diamond grains and protruding from the surface of the metal phase. In a plan view, the coating layer includes a metal coating portion, and a grain coating portion. A ratio of a thickness of the grain coating portion to a thickness of the metal coating portion is equal to or less than 0.80. The coating layer has a surface roughness as an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of less than 2.0 μm.

The invention relates to anti-multipactor coating deposited onto a substrate that can be exposed to the air and its procedure of obtainment by simple chemical methods. Furthermore, the present invention relates to its use for the fabrication of high power devices working at high frequencies.

A process of pretreatment for selective application of electroless metallization to a surface of a non-conductive material and a solution useful for the pretreatment are provided. The process achieves good coverage in areas to be plated on the surface of non-conductive materials without skip plating or over plating.

The substrate for a printed circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a base film having insulating properties, and a metal layer stacked on at least one surface of the base film, in which the base film includes a portion where a transition metal in group 10 of the periodic table is present. The transition metal in group 10 is preferably nickel or palladium. The portion where the transition metal in group 10 is present preferably includes a region having an average thickness of 500 nm and extending from an interface with the metal layer.