The disclosure provides an anti-corrosion conductive film and methods of making and using thereof. The anti-corrosion conductive film is formed by sequentially forming an anti-corrosion protective layer, a stress transition layer and a conducting layer on the surface of a substrate by deposition through a high-low pulse bias alternation method. The anti-corrosion conductive film is a nano-multilayer anti-corrosion conductive film exhibiting excellent corrosion resistance and conductivity. The anti-corrosion conductive film has great application prospects in the fields of metal polar plates of fuel cells, ground grid equipment of power transmission lines, and the like.

Embodiments of the disclosure relate to methods for enlarging the opening width of substrate features by reducing the overhang of deposited films. Some embodiments of the disclosure utilize a high power bias pulse to etch the deposited film near the opening of the substrate feature. Some embodiments of the disclosure etch the deposited film without damaging the underlying substrate.

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.

Provided are a low-price fuel cell separator with high corrosion resistance and a method for manufacturing the separator. The present disclosure relates to a fuel cell separator including a metal substrate and a titanium layer containing titanium formed on the metal substrate, and a method for manufacturing the separator. A ratio of a (100) plane to a sum of values obtained by dividing peak intensities of the (100) plane, a (002) plane, and a (101) plane derived from titanium in an X-ray diffraction analysis of a separator surface by respective relative intensities is a constant value or more.

A magnetron sputtering system includes a substrate mounted within a vacuum chamber. A plurality of cathode assemblies includes a first set of cathode assemblies and a second set of cathode assemblies, and is configured for reactive sputtering. Each cathode assembly includes a target comprising sputterable material and has an at least partially exposed planar sputtering surface. A target support is configured to support the target in the vacuum chamber and rotate the target relative to the vacuum chamber about a target axis. A magnetic field source includes a magnet array. A cathode assemblies controller assembly is operative to actuate the first set of cathode assemblies without actuating the second set of cathode assemblies, and to actuate the second set of cathode assemblies without actuating the first set of cathode assemblies.

The tantalum-doped molybdenum disulfide/tungsten disulfide (MoS.sub.2/WS.sub.2) multi-layer film includes a titanium transition layer, a titanium/tantalum/molybdenum disulfide/tungsten disulfide (Ti/Ta/MoS.sub.2/WS.sub.2) multi-layer gradient transition layer, and a tantalum-doped MoS.sub.2/WS.sub.2 multi-layer layer which are successively laminated in a thickness direction. The preparation method includes: successively depositing the titanium transition layer, the Ti/Ta/MoS.sub.2/WS.sub.2 multi-layer gradient transition layer, and the tantalum-doped MoS.sub.2/WS.sub.2 multi-layer layer on the surface of a matrix by adopting a magnetron sputtering technology to obtain the tantalum-doped MoS.sub.2/WS.sub.2 multi-layer film. The tantalum-doped MoS.sub.2/WS.sub.2 multi-layer film has good matrix binding strength, hardness and elasticity modulus, good friction and abrasion performance, good temperature self-adopting performance, heat and humidity resistance, and high temperature oxidization resistance under an atmospheric environment at different temperatures, and can meet the requirements of stable lubrication and long-life service of aerospace vehicles.

The invention is directed at sputter targets including 50 atomic % or more molybdenum, a second metal element of titanium, and a third metal element of chromium or tantalum, and deposited films prepared by the sputter targets. In a preferred aspect of the invention, the sputter target includes a phase that is rich in molybdenum, a phase that is rich in titanium, and a phase that is rich in the third metal element.

A method of the invention which manufactures a substrate with a transparent conductive film, includes: preparing a base body that has a top surface and a back surface and has an a-Si film coating at least one of the top surface and the back surface; and setting temperatures of the base body and the a-Si film to be in the range of 70 to 220° C. in a film formation space having a processing gas containing hydrogen, applying a sputtering voltage to a target, carrying out DC sputtering, and thereby forming the a-Si film on a transparent conductive film.

Methods and apparatus for processing a plurality of substrates are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of processing a plurality of substrates in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber includes: performing a series of reflow processes on a corresponding series of substrates over at least a portion of a life of a sputtering target disposed in the PVD chamber, wherein a substrate-to-target distance in the PVD chamber and a support-to-target distance within the PVD chamber are each controlled as a function of the life of the sputtering target.

A method for coating a curved substrate is disclosed, which includes: providing a coating device including: a chamber, a carrying platform, a sputtering mechanism, and a position-adjusting mechanism, wherein the carrying platform is disposed in the chamber and has a first surface, the sputtering mechanism is disposed in the chamber and is disposed corresponding to the carrying platform, and the position-adjusting mechanism is disposed in the chamber; providing a curved substrate, wherein the curved substrate is disposed on the first surface of the carrying platform and the curved substrate has a second surface; adjusting the sputtering mechanism to different positions by the position-adjusting mechanism; and sputtering a coating material to different parts of the second surface of the curved substrate by the sputtering mechanism at the different positions.