A method includes casting a metallic material (56) in a mold (20) containing a core, the core having a substrate (40, 44) coated with a coating (42). A removing of the metallic material from the mold and decoring leaves a casting having a layer formed by the coating. The coating has a ceramic having a porosity in a zone (50) near the substrate less than a porosity in a zone (52) away from the substrate.

Provided is a barrier film, comprising a base layer and an inorganic layer including a first region and a second region, which have different elemental contents (atomic %) of Si, N, and O from each other as measured by XPS, and having a compactness expressed through an etching rate of 0.17 nm/s in the thickness direction for an Ar ion etching condition to etch Ta.sub.2O.sub.5 at a rate of 0.09 nm/s, wherein the second region has a higher elemental content of N than that of the first region, and the second region has a thickness of 10% or more relative to the total thickness of the inorganic layer. The barrier film has excellent barrier properties and optical properties and can be used for electronic products which are sensitive to moisture and the like.

A coating according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, among other possible things includes a bond coat including gettering particles and diffusive particles dispersed in a matrix; a top coat disposed over the bond coat, the top coat includes metal silicate particles; and an intermediate layer between the bond coat and the top coat. The intermediate layer includes hafnium silicate particles and matrix. A concentration of metal silicate in the intermediate layer is less than a concentration of metal silicate in the top coat. An article is also disclosed.

A method for coating a substrate 11 is disclosed. The method includes at least the following steps: depositing a first base layer 22 comprising a nitride of at least Al and Cr on the substrate 11 by physical vapor deposition at a gradually increasing substrate bias voltage from a first substrate bias voltage to a second substrate bias voltage; depositing a second base layer 23 comprising a nitride of at least Al and Cr on the first base layer 22 by physical vapor deposition at a constant substrate bias voltage that is greater or equal to the second substrate bias voltage; and depositing an outermost indicator layer 24 on the second base layer 23, wherein the outermost indicator layer 24 comprises a nitride of Si and Me, wherein Me is at least one of Ti, Zr, Hf, and Cr, wherein the outermost indicator layer 24 is deposited by physical vapor deposition at a substrate bias voltage that is less than the constant substrate bias voltage applied during deposition of the second base layer 23.

A superalloy workpiece includes a superalloy substrate and an interface layer (IF-1) of essentially the same superalloy composition directly on a surface of the superalloy substrate. A transition layer (TL) of essentially the same superalloy and superalloy oxides or a different metal composition and different metal oxides is on the interface layer (IF-1). The oxygen content of the transition layer increases from the interface layer (IF-1) towards a barrier layer (IF-2) of super alloy oxides or of different metal oxides.

A component with a ceramic coating system wherein the component includes a substrate, especially a nickel- or cobalt-based superalloy, a metallic bond coat, especially based on a NiCoCrAl composition, a ceramic coating system with an lower ceramic coating and an upper ceramic coating. An intermediate coating is located between lower coating and upper coating, providing a rougher surface which has a maximum thickness of 25% of the thickness of the lower coating or of the upper coating. The bonding capacity of a ceramic coating system is improved by adapting the coating parameters such as size of the powder and changing of the parameters of the spraying system.

A cutting tool comprising a base material and a coating arranged on the base material; wherein: the coating comprises an α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer composed of a plurality of α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 particles; the average particle diameter a of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 particles in a first region of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer is 0.10 μm or more and 0.30 μm or less; the average particle diameter b of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 particles in a second region of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer is 0.30 μm or more and 0.50 μm or less; the average particle diameter c of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 particles in a third region of the α-Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer is 0.10 μm or more and 0.30 μm or less; and the ratio b/a is 1.5 or more and 5.0 or less.

Articles containing metal, hard metal, cermet or ceramic and coated with a hard material, and a method for producing same. The hard material layers can be used as anti-wear layers for cutting tools, as protective layers for turbine blades, or as diffusion barriers in microelectronics. The hard material layers exhibit a high hardness, high oxidation resistance, and excellent wear resistance. The articles are coated with a single- or multi-layer layer system by a thermal CVD method without plasma excitation, where the single- or multi-layer layer system includes at least one nanocomposite layer with a first nanocrystalline phase of cubic titanium oxycarbonitride and a second, amorphous phase of silicon oxycarbonitride or silicon oxycarbide.

A chain component of a chain for power transmission coated with a layer of hard material includes a substrate based on steel and a layer of hard material on an outer surface of the substrate based on steel, with the layer of hard material containing metal nitrides and the C mass concentration in the layer of hard material decreasing in the direction toward the outer surface of the layer of hard material.

A chain component of a chain for transmitting a force includes a steel-based substrate and a hard material layer on an external side of the steel-based substrate. The hard material layer contains metal nitrides and the metal carbide content in the hard material layer decreases toward the external side of the hard material layer.