The invention relates to vertical or inclined electrodes of an electrolyzer for electrolytically producing aluminum from aluminum oxide. An electrode contains an electrode base and a surface coating based on refractory ceramics. According to a first variant of the invention, the electrode base is made of a composite material containing between 5% and 90% by mass of refractory ceramics, and of at least one metal having a melting temperature exceeding 1000° C., which forms refractory intermetallic compounds upon interaction with aluminum, and/or containing at least one alloy of such a metal. According to a second variant of the invention, the electrode base is made of a metal alloy, for example structural steel or another alloy, and the surface of the electrode base has applied thereto an intermediary layer consisting of a composite material having the composition described above.

Improved thin film coatings, cutting tool materials and processes for cutting tool applications are disclosed. A boron-doped graded diamond thin film for forming a highly adhesive surface coating on a cemented carbide (WC—Co) cutting tool material is provided. The thin film is fabricated in a HFCVD reactor. It is made of a bottom layer of BMCD in contact with a surface layer of the cemented carbide, a top layer made of NCD and a transition layer with a decreasing concentration gradient of boron obtained by changing the reaction conditions through ramp up option in hot filament CVD reactor. The top layer has a low friction coefficient. The bottom layer in the coating substrate interface has better interfacial adhesion through cobalt and boron reactivity and decreased cobalt diffusivity in the diamond. The transition layer has minimized lattice mismatch and sharp stress concentration between the top and bottom layers.

Disclosed is a part comprising a metal substrate, a non-hydrogenated amorphous ta-C or aC carbon coating that coats the substrate, and an undercoat which is based on chromium (Cr), carbon (C) and silicon (Si) and is disposed between the metal substrate and the amorphous carbon coating and to which the amorphous carbon coating is applied, characterized in that the undercoat included, at its interface with the amorphous carbon coating, a ratio of silicon in atomic percent to chromium in atomic percent (Si/Cr) of 0.3 to 0.60, and a ratio of carbon in atomic percent to silicon in atomic percent (C/Si) of 2.5 to 3.5.

A coating includes a first base layer including a nitride of at least Al and Cr, a second base layer including a nitride of at least Al and Cr overlying the first base layer, and an outermost indicator layer overlying the second base layer. The first base layer has a positive residual compressive stress gradient. The second base layer has substantially constant residual compressive stresses. The outermost indicator layer includes a nitride of Si and Me, wherein Me is at least one of Ti, Zr, Hf, and Cr. The outermost indicator layer has residual compressive stresses that are less than the residual compressive stresses of the second base layer.

Thermal barrier coatings and methods to make such coatings present improved resistance to CMAS infiltration. The method for forming a thermal barrier coating includes applying a layer of the thermal barrier coating to a component having a surface, forming a plurality of first channels in the thermal barrier coating, and forming a plurality of second channels in the thermal barrier coating. The first channels extend through a thickness of the thermal barrier coating from an interface with the surface of the component to a free surface opposite the interface. The second channels are disposed between the free surface and the interface and extending lengthwise generally parallel to the free surface of the thermal barrier coating, wherein the thermal barrier coating comprises a material comprising yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) or yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ).

A coated cutting tool and a process for the production thereof is provided. The coated cutting tool includes a substrate and a hard material coating, the substrate being selected from cemented carbide, cermet, ceramics, cubic boron nitride, polycrystalline diamond or high-speed steel. The hard material coating includes a (Ti,Al)N layer stack of alternately stacked (Ti,Al)N sub-layers. The layer stack has an overall atomic ratio of Ti:Al within the (Ti,Al)N layer stack within the range from 0.33:0.67 to 0.67:0.33, a total thickness of the (Ti,Al)N layer stack within the range from 1 μm to 20 μm, each of the individual (Ti,Al)N sub-layers within the (Ti,Al)N layer stack of alternately stacked (Ti,Al)N sub-layers having a thickness within the range from 0.5 nm to 50 nm, each of the individual (Ti,Al)N sub-layers within the (Ti,Al)N layer stack of alternately stacked (Ti,Al)N sub-layers being different in respect of the atomic ratio Ti:Al than an immediately adjacent (Ti,Al)N sub-layer, and other characteristics.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to optical device films and methods of forming optical device films. Specifically, embodiments described herein provide for an optical device film having a constant oxygen-concentration, a first concentration profile of the first material, and a second concentration profile of the second material. The first material, described and referenced to herein, has a first refractive index about 2.0 or greater and the second material has a second refractive index less than 2.0.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing component for manufacturing a semiconductor device by using a substrate such as a wafer in a dry etching process, and a manufacturing method thereof. The semiconductor manufacturing component comprising a deposition layer covering an interlayer boundary according to the present invention comprises: a base material containing carbon; a first deposition layer formed on the base material; a second deposition layer formed on the first deposition layer; and a third deposition layer formed on the first deposition layer and the second deposition layer, and formed to cover at least one portion of a boundary line between the first deposition layer and the second deposition layer.

An improved coating used in plastic processing applications including a first layer system that includes at least one corrosion resistant material layer; a second layer system that includes at least one abrasion resistant material layers; and a transition layer provided between the first layer and the second layer. The coating is resistant to both abrasion and corrosion, while maintaining ductility and impact resistance.

A surface-coated cutting tool includes a substrate and a coating film. The coating film includes an alternate layer. The alternate layer includes a first layer having a first composition and a second layer having a second composition. The alternate layer is formed by alternately stacking at least one first layer and at least one second layer. The first layer and the second layer each have a thickness not smaller than 2 nm and not greater than 100 nm. The first composition is expressed as Ti.sub.aAl.sub.bSi.sub.cN (0.25≤a≤0.45, 0.55≤b≤0.75, 0≤c≤0.1, a+b+c=1). The second composition is expressed as Ti.sub.dAl.sub.eSi.sub.fN (0.35≤d≤0.55, 0.45≤e≤0.65, 0≤f≤0.1, d+e+f=1). The first composition and the second composition satisfy a condition of 0.05≤d−a≤0.2 and 0.05≤b−e≤0.2.