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.

A method of controlling a substrate etching process includes disposing a bottom surface or a top surface of a substrate adjacent to volume of etching fluid to produce an etchant-substrate interface and heating the etchant-substrate interface via spatially controlled electromagnetic radiation. The method also includes transmitting a monitoring beam through the substrate, the substrate and volume of etching fluid being at least partially transparent at the wavelength range of the monitoring beam and measuring a property of the substrate surface during the substrate etching process via the monitoring beam to produce a real-time measured property for the substrate. A corresponding etching system and computer-program product is also disclosed herein.

A method of controlling a substrate etching process includes disposing a bottom surface or a top surface of a substrate adjacent to volume of etching fluid to produce an etchant-substrate interface and heating the etchant-substrate interface via spatially controlled electromagnetic radiation. The method also includes transmitting a monitoring beam through the substrate, the substrate and volume of etching fluid being at least partially transparent at the wavelength range of the monitoring beam and measuring a property of the substrate surface during the substrate etching process via the monitoring beam to produce a real-time measured property for the substrate. A corresponding etching system and computer-program product is also disclosed herein.

A method for making an article comprising silicon carbide. The method includes producing an article including silicon carbide via additive manufacturing. The method further includes heating via at least one laser beam in a site-selective and locally limited manner a surface of the article so as to cause at least one of ablation and chemical modification of the surface.

A method for forming a protective coating on a surface of a ceramic substrate includes combining a rare-earth oxide, alumina, and silica to form a powder, etching the surface of the ceramic substrate, applying the powder on the etched surface in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 0.1 g/cm.sup.2 to reduce capture of bubbles from off-gassing of the ceramic substrate, heating the powder for a time of from about 5 to about 60 minutes to a temperature at or above the melting point such that the powder melts and forms a molten coating on the surface that has a minimized number of bubbles, and cooling the molten coating to ambient temperature to form the protective coating disposed on and in direct contact with the surface of the ceramic substrate such that the protective coating has a thickness of less than about 1 mil.

A method for forming a protective coating on a surface of a ceramic substrate includes combining a rare-earth oxide, alumina, and silica to form a powder, etching the surface of the ceramic substrate, applying the powder on the etched surface in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 0.1 g/cm.sup.2 to reduce capture of bubbles from off-gassing of the ceramic substrate, heating the powder for a time of from about 5 to about 60 minutes to a temperature at or above the melting point such that the powder melts and forms a molten coating on the surface that has a minimized number of bubbles, and cooling the molten coating to ambient temperature to form the protective coating disposed on and in direct contact with the surface of the ceramic substrate such that the protective coating has a thickness of less than about 1 mil.

A method of fabricating a grinding tool includes providing an abrasive particle, and cutting the abrasive particle with a laser beam so that the cut abrasive particle has four tips adjacent to one another, a cavity of a generally cross shape extending between the four tips, and a material discharge surface at an end of the cavity. The laser beam is applied along a plurality of parallel first cutting lines and a plurality of parallel second cutting lines, the second cutting lines intersecting the first cutting lines, at least the first cutting lines being grouped into a first, a second and a third region, the second region being located between the first and third regions, a number of cutting passes repeated along each of the first cutting lines in each of the first and third regions increasing as the first cutting line is nearer to the second region, and the laser beam repeating a plurality of cutting passes along each of the first cutting lines in the second region.

A method of fabricating a grinding tool includes providing an abrasive particle, and cutting the abrasive particle with a laser beam so that the cut abrasive particle has four tips adjacent to one another, a cavity of a generally cross shape extending between the four tips, and a material discharge surface at an end of the cavity. The laser beam is applied along a plurality of parallel first cutting lines and a plurality of parallel second cutting lines, the second cutting lines intersecting the first cutting lines, at least the first cutting lines being grouped into a first, a second and a third region, the second region being located between the first and third regions, a number of cutting passes repeated along each of the first cutting lines in each of the first and third regions increasing as the first cutting line is nearer to the second region, and the laser beam repeating a plurality of cutting passes along each of the first cutting lines in the second region.

Tin oxide films are used as mandrels in semiconductor device manufacturing. In one implementation the process starts by patterning a tin oxide layer using at least one of a hydrogen-based etch chemistry and a chlorine-based etch chemistry, and using patterned photoresist as a mask, thereby providing a substrate having a plurality of protruding tin oxide features (mandrels). Next, a conformal layer of spacer material is formed both on the horizontal surfaces and on the sidewalls of the mandrels. The spacer material is then removed from the horizontal surfaces exposing the tin oxide material of the mandrels, without fully removing the spacer material residing at the sidewalls of the mandrels. Next, mandrels are selectively removed (e.g., using hydrogen-based etch chemistry), while leaving the spacer material that resided at the sidewalls of the mandrels. The resulting spacers can be used for patterning underlying layers on the substrate.

Tin oxide films are used as mandrels in semiconductor device manufacturing. In one implementation the process starts by patterning a tin oxide layer using at least one of a hydrogen-based etch chemistry and a chlorine-based etch chemistry, and using patterned photoresist as a mask, thereby providing a substrate having a plurality of protruding tin oxide features (mandrels). Next, a conformal layer of spacer material is formed both on the horizontal surfaces and on the sidewalls of the mandrels. The spacer material is then removed from the horizontal surfaces exposing the tin oxide material of the mandrels, without fully removing the spacer material residing at the sidewalls of the mandrels. Next, mandrels are selectively removed (e.g., using hydrogen-based etch chemistry), while leaving the spacer material that resided at the sidewalls of the mandrels. The resulting spacers can be used for patterning underlying layers on the substrate.