The invention relates to an arrangement for coating substrate surfaces by means of electric arc discharge in a vacuum chamber, wherein electric arc discharges between a target (1) which is electrically connected as a cathode and is formed from a metal material are used. Arranged at a distance from the target (1) is an anode (2), with which the electric arc discharges are ignited to form a plasma formed with metal material of the target (1). The target (1) is connected to a first electric power source (3) and the anode (2) to a second electric power source (4), wherein the absolute values of the electric voltages connected to the target (1) and to the anode (2) different from one another.

An ion source enhanced AlCrSiN coating for a cutting tool is provided. The ion source enhanced AlCrSiN coaling has gradient Si content and grain size, including sequentially an AlCrSiN working layer, an interlayer and an AlCrN bottom layer in order from a surface of the coating to a substrate, wherein from the AlCrN bottom layer to the AlCrSiN working layer, Si content in the interlayer is gradually increased, and the interlayer has a texture that changes from coarse columnar crystals to fine nanocrystals and amorphous body. A texture of the coating, in which the grain size is gradually decreased, sequentially includes coarse columnar crystals, fine columnar crystals and fine equiaxed crystals. A method for preparing the ion source enhanced AlCrSiN coating with the gradient Si content and grain size is provided as well as a cutting tool having the coating deposited thereon.

Methods and systems for forming complex oxide films are provided. Also provided are complex oxide films and heterostructures made using the methods and electronic devices incorporating the complex oxide films and heterostructures. In the methods pulsed laser deposition is conducted in an atmosphere containing a metal-organic precursor to form highly stoichiometric complex oxides.

This disclosure provides compositions and methods for a film, which may include a base film and a coating layer on the base film, wherein the coating layer has a surface energy of at least 30 dynes/cm and consists essentially of nylon, polyester, ethylene vinyl alcohol-based copolymer, polyvinyl alcohol-based polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinylchloride, acrylate-based polymers, methacrylate-based polymers, polyurethane, polyalkylimine, acid-modified polyolefins, polyetherester-amide block copolymer, and combinations thereof. Further, the film may include a metal oxide layer on the coating layer, wherein the metal oxide layer has an optical density of equal to or less than 0.5 and a thickness from 0.1 nm through 100 nm. Further still, the film has an oxygen transmission rate of less than 4 cm.sup.3/m.sup.2/day at 23 C. and 0% relative humidity, a water vapor transmission rate of less than 4 g/m.sup.2/day at 38 C. and 90% relative humidity, and a thickness of 5 m through 50 m.

An object to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a gas barrier film having excellent acid resistance, transparency, and gas barrier properties. The gas barrier laminated body of the present invention is a laminate, in which an inorganic thin-film layer is laminated onto at least one of surfaces of a polymer substrate, and the inorganic thin-film layer mainly contains Al and Si, and a ratio of an Al content amount between before and after treatment of immersing the laminate into aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid that has concentration of 1 mol/L for one hour satisfies a formula of (Al Content Amount After Treatment)/(Al Content Amount Before Treatment)10075.

In these investigations, an attempt has been made to correlate the deposition parameters of the reactive cathodic arc evaporation with processes at the surface of the composite AlCr targets and the nucleation and phase formation of the synthesized AlCrO layers. The oxygen partial pressure and the pulsed operation of the arc current influence the formation of intermetallic phases and solid solutions at the target surface. The nucleation of the ternary oxides at the substrate site appears to be, to some extent, controllable by the intermetallics or solid solutions formed at the target surface. A specific nucleation process at substrate site can therefore be induced by the free choice of target composition in combination with the partial pressure of the oxygen reactive gas. It also allows the control over the oxide island growth at the target surface which occurs occasionally at higher oxygen partial pressure. This hypothesis is supported by the X-ray diffraction analysis of the layers as well as of the target surface.

The present disclosure relates to a ball and a valve seat for a fuel injector, in which an SiO-DLC functional layer having low friction properties is formed as an outermost layer in order to reduce a friction coefficient, a Mo-based material is applied to a bonding layer and a supporting layer for bonding the SiO-DLC functional layer to a base material and supporting the same to improve the heat resistance thereof, and only Mo particles of a pure ion state are deposited so as to form the bonding layer and the support layer, such that adhesive force and bonding force are increased to thus improve durability; and to a method for coating the same.

A polycrystalline dielectric thin film and a capacitor element have a large relative dielectric constant. The polycrystalline dielectric thin film has a perovskite oxynitride as a principal component. The perovskite oxynitride is represented by compositional formula A.sub.a1B.sub.b1O.sub.oN.sub.n (a1+b1+o+n=5), and the a-axis length of the crystal lattice of the perovskite oxynitride is larger than a theoretical value.

A metal cutting tool includes a main body made of cemented carbide, cermet, ceramic, steel or high-speed steel, and a multi-layer wear protection coating. The wear protection coating includes a lower layer having an overall composition of Ti.sub.m Al.sub.(1-m) N with 0.25<m<0.55 and an overall thickness of 500 nm to 3 m. The lower layer has 50 to 600 pairs of alternately stacked sub-layers in a sequence (A-B-A-B- . . . ) and having a composition Ti.sub.a Al.sub.(1-a)N with 0.45a0.55 and a thickness of 1 nm to 10 nm. The upper layer has 30 to 400 triples of alternately stacked sub-layers in a sequence (C-D-E-C-D-E- . . . ). The sub-layers of the upper layer have a composition Ti.sub.x Al.sub.ySi.sub.z N with x+y+z=1 and 0.20x0.45, 0.20y0.45 and 0.20z0.45 and a thickness of 1 nm to 10 nm.

A coated cutting tool and a process for manufacturing a coated cutting tool consisting of a substrate and a single-layer or multi-layer hard material coating. The substrate is selected from cemented carbide, cermet, ceramics, cubic boron nitride, polycrystalline diamond or high-speed steel. The hard coating includes at least one layer of Al.sub.aCr.sub.bMe.sub.cO.sub.dN.sub.e, wherein a+b+c+d+e=1, a, b, d and e each are >0, c=0 or c>0, ab, c/(a+b+c)0.1, wherein Me is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, Ta, Nb, Hf, Si, and V, and wherein the Al.sub.aCr.sub.bMe.sub.cO.sub.dN.sub.e layer is deposited by an arc vapor deposition process (Arc-PVD) using targets containing Al and Cr with an Al:Cr atomic ratio in the range of 95:5 to 50:50.