A fuel cell separator includes a metal substrate having a surface; an ion penetration layer including carbon diffusion-inhibiting ions extending from the surface of the metal substrate into the metal substrate; and a carbon coating layer disposed on the surface of the metal substrate.

A method of depositing a nanoscale-thin film onto a substrate is disclosed. The method generally comprises depositing a layer of a solid or gaseous state functionalizing molecule onto or adjacent to the first surface of the substrate and exposing the first surface to a source of ionizing radiation, thereby functionalizing the first surface of the substrate. Once the layer of functionalizing molecule is removed, a nanoscale-thin film is then deposited onto the functionalized first surface of the substrate.

An atmospheric, Laser-based Chemical Vapor Deposition (LCVD) technique provides highly localized deposition of material to mitigate damage sites on an optical component. The same laser beam can be used to deposit material as well as for in-situ annealing of the deposited material. The net result of the LCVD process is in-filling and planarization of a treated site, which produces optically more damage resistant surfaces. Several deposition and annealing steps can be interleaved during a single cycle for more precise control on amount of deposited material as well as for increasing the damage threshold for the deposited material.

The invention relates to a machining tool comprising a substrate surface made of a hard metal or a ceramic material; the substrate surface contains carbide-based and/or nitride-based and/or oxide-based hard particles embedded in a cobalt-containing binder matrix, and the substrate surface contains additional atoms implanted using ion beams of at least one species of cations.

The present invention relates to a machining tool having a substrate surface made of a hard metal or a ceramic material, said substrate surface containing hard material particles on the basis of carbide and/or nitride and/or oxide that are embedded in a cobalt-containing binder matrix, and the substrate surface being smoothened. The substrate surface of the machining tool can be smoothened by way of a treatment with an ion beam that consists of monomer ions of at least one cation species, the cation species being mono-or poly-charged and being selected from the group consisting of: cations of the main group elements lithium, boron, aluminum, gallium, carbon, silicon, germanium, nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen; and cations of the transition metals titanium, zirconium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel and copper.

A method of in-situ transfer during fabrication of a component comprising a 2-dimensional crystalline thin film on a substrate is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes forming a layered structure comprising a polymer, a 2-dimensional crystalline thin film, a metal catalyst, and a substrate. The metal catalyst, being a growth medium for the two-dimensional crystalline thin film, is etched and removed by infiltrating liquid to enable the in-situ transfer of the two-dimensional crystalline thin film directly onto the underlying substrate.

A nitride underlayer structure includes a sputtered AlN buffer layer with open band-shaped holes, thus providing a stress release path before the nitride film is grown over the buffer layer. A light-emitting diode with such nitride underlayer structure has improved lattice quality of the nitride underlayer structure and the problem of surface cracks is resolved. A fabrication method of the nitride underlayer includes providing a substrate and forming a band-shaped material layer over the substrate; sputtering an AlN material layer over the band-shaped material layer and the substrate to form a flat film; scanning back and forth from the substrate end with a laser beam to decompose the band-shaped material layer to form a sputtered AlN buffer layer with flat surface and band-shaped holes inside; and forming an Al.sub.xIn.sub.1-x-yGa.sub.yN layer (0x1, 0y1) over the sputtered AlN buffer layer.

A fuel cell separator includes a metal substrate having a surface; an ion penetration layer including carbon diffusion-inhibiting ions extending from the surface of the metal substrate into the metal substrate; and a carbon coating layer disposed on the surface of the metal substrate.

Material is deposited in a desired pattern by spontaneous deposition of precursor gas at regions of a surface that are prepared using a beam to provide conditions to support the initiation of the spontaneous reaction. Once the reaction is initiated, it continues in the absence of the beam at the regions of the surface at which the reaction was initiated.

A method of in-situ transfer during fabrication of a component comprising a 2-dimensional crystalline thin film on a substrate is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes forming a layered structure comprising a polymer, a 2-dimensional crystalline thin film, a metal catalyst, and a substrate. The metal catalyst, being a growth medium for the two-dimensional crystalline thin film, is etched and removed by infiltrating liquid to enable the in-situ transfer of the two-dimensional crystalline thin film directly onto the underlying substrate.