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 method of forming a layer (3) on a substrate (2) made of a fluoridic material includes: depositing a coating material (9) on the substrate to form the layer and generating a plasma (12) to assist the deposition of the coating material. The plasma is formed from a gas mixture (14) containing a first gas (G) and a second gas (H), wherein the second gas has an ionization energy less than an ionization energy of the first gas, the first gas is a noble gas and the second gas is a further noble gas. An associated optical element includes: a substrate (2) composed of a fluoridic material, in particular a metal fluoride, wherein the substrate has a coating (18) having a layer (3) formed by the above method. An associated optical system, in particular for the DUV wavelength range, includes at least one such optical element.

Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to separators, high performance electrochemical devices, such as, batteries and capacitors, including the aforementioned separators, systems and methods for fabricating the same. In one implementation, a separator is provided. The separator comprises a polymer substrate, capable of conducting ions, having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface. The separator further comprises a first ceramic-containing layer, capable of conducting ions, formed on the first surface. The first ceramic-containing layer has a thickness in a range from about 1,000 nanometers to about 5,000 nanometers. The separator further comprises a second ceramic-containing layer, capable of conducting ions, formed on the second surface. The second ceramic-containing layer is a binder-free ceramic-containing layer and has a thickness in a range from about 1 nanometer to about 1,000 nanometers.

A system and method for fabricating perovskite films for solar cell applications are provided, the system including a housing for use as a vacuum chamber, a substrate stage coupled to the top section of the housing; a first evaporator unit coupled to the bottom section of the housing and configured to generate BX.sub.2 (metal halide material) vapor; a second evaporator unit coupled to the housing and configured to generate AX (organic material) vapor; and a flow control unit coupled to the housing for controlling circulation of the AX vapor. The dimensions of the horizontal cross-sectional shape of the first evaporator unit, the dimensions of the horizontal cross-sectional shape of the substrate stage, and the relative position in the horizontal direction between the two horizontal cross-sectional shapes are configured to maximize the overlap between the two horizontal cross-sectional shapes.

A component for a processing chamber includes a ceramic body having at least one surface with a first average surface roughness. The component further includes a conformal protective layer on at least one surface of the ceramic body, wherein the conformal protective layer is a plasma resistant rare earth oxide film having a substantially uniform thickness of less than 300 μm over the at least one surface and having a second average surface roughness that is less than the first average surface roughness.

A cutting tool comprises a coating on a substrate. The coating comprises a first layer element having an overall composition comprising the metal or metalloid elements aluminum, chromium, titanium, and silicon. The first layer element comprises at least 2 N.sub.lay first layer element layers. Each of the first layer element layers comprises a nitride layer comprising the metal or metalloid elements aluminum, chromium, titanium and silicon. The N.sub.lay first layer element layers comprise at least two different types of layers that at least differ in a silicon content. A first type of the layers has a highest silicon content C.sub.Si,H, (in at. %) and a second type of the layers has a lowest silicon content C.sub.Si,L (in at. %), both relative to a total of the metal and metalloid elements, and with a ratio of the lowest silicon content C.sub.Si,L to the highest silicon content C.sub.Si,H in the range of 0.25≤C.sub.Si,L/C.sub.Si,H≤0.9.

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.

A method for applying a coating 1 to a surface 2 of a mullite material 3 is specified, which comprises pretreating the surface 2 of the mullite material 3 by means of a plasma-chemical process in which molecular hydrogen is excited in such a way that plasma-activated hydrogen is produced S1, and applying an aluminum oxide-containing layer 4 by means of a PVD process to the pretreated surface 2 of the mullite material 3 S2. Furthermore, a mullite material 3 with a coating and a gas turbine component with such a mullite material 3 are specified.

Provided are a friction reduced and wear resistant coating, a preparation method thereof and a piston ring. The coating includes an adhesive layer, a transition layer, a gradient layer and a function layer in sequence. The gradient layer is a CrMo.sub.xN layer in which Mo content progressively increases. The function layer includes at least one cyclical layer. Each cyclical layer includes a first CrMo.sub.xN layer and a second CrMo.sub.xN layer in sequence from bottom to top. The Mo content of the first CrMo.sub.xN layer is lower than the Mo content of the second CrMo.sub.xN layer. The coating provided by the present invention has a friction coefficient of 0.3 to 0.45, 10% to 30% lower than a CrN coating, and has an overall hardness of up to 1400 HV to 2600 HV and a thickness of 80 μm, satisfying the required durability for the full lifecycle of the piston ring. The preparation process of the coating is simple and highly operable, and thus is convenient for industrialization.

Provided is a coated cutting tool, which includes a hard coating film containing a layer (b) formed of a nitride or a carbonitride, a layer (c) which is a layered coating film formed by alternately layering a nitride or carbonitride layer (c1) that contains 55 atom % or more of Al, Cr having a second highest content percentage, and at least B and a nitride or carbonitride layer (c2) that contains 55 atom % or more of Al and Ti having a second highest content percentage, each layer having a film thickness of 50 nm or less. A peak intensity Ih ascribable to a hcp (010) plane of AlN in the layer (c) and the total peak intensity Is ascribable to a plurality of predetermined crystal phases satisfy a relationship of Ih×100/Is≤15.