A coating system for coating a part (10), such as a turbine blade or vane, has a mask (14) positioned adjacent to a first portion (16) of the part (10) to be coated and a mechanism (30) for moving the mask (14) relative to the part (10). The mechanism (30) may be a gear mechanism or a magnetic mechanism.

A film forming apparatus includes a target holder that holds a target facing a substrate and extending in a predetermined direction on a horizontal plane, a magnet unit including a pair of magnet assemblies each having magnets and disposed at a back side of the target holder, a pair of shielding members disposed between the target and the substrate to extend from the target toward the substrate, and a moving mechanism configured to reciprocate the magnet unit between one end and the other end in the predetermined direction. The magnet assemblies are arranged along the predetermined direction, and each of the shielding members is disposed, in plan view, on a boundary line between a first region where only one of the magnet assemblies passes during a reciprocating motion of the magnet unit and a second region where both of the magnet assemblies pass therethrough during the reciprocating motion.

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.

A method of fabricating a thin film with a varying thickness includes the steps of providing a shadow mask with an opening, providing a carrier plate, arranging a substrate on the carrier plate, and coating the substrate through the opening whilst rotating the carrier plate relative to the shadow mask. A plurality of zones of the substrates is swept and exposed from arcuate portions of the opening per each turn by a plurality of predetermined exposure times, respectively. The varying thickness of the thin film corresponds to variation of the predetermined exposure times.

In a method of manufacturing a one-dimensionally varying optical filter, a substrate is coated to form a stack of layers of two or more different types. The coating may, for example, employ sputtering, electron-beam evaporation, or thermal evaporation. During the coating, the time-averaged deposition rate is varied along an optical gradient direction by generating reciprocation between a shadow mask and the substrate in a reciprocation direction that is transverse to the optical gradient direction. In some approaches, the shadow mask is periodic with a mask period defined along the direction of reciprocation, and the generated reciprocation has a stroke equal to or greater than the mask period along the direction of reciprocation. The substrate and the shadow mask may also be rotated together as a unit during the coating. Also disclosed are one-dimensionally varying optical filters, such as linear variable filters, made by such methods.

A piston ring for an internal-combustion engine may include a body having a substantially annular external surface and a physical vapor deposition coating layer disposed on the external surface. The body may include a gap defined between a first end and a second end. The piston ring may also include a first half in a region of the gap and a second half opposite the first half. The coating layer of the first half may have a thickness gradient, and the coating layer may define a greater thickness in a vicinity of the first end and the second end and a reduced thickness in regions further away from the vicinity of the first end and the second end. The coating layer of the second half may have a uniform thickness.

Methods of depositing materials to provide for efficient coupling of light from a first device to a second device are disclosed. In general, these methods include mounting one or more wafers on a rotating table that is continuously rotated under one or more source targets. A process gas can be provided and one or more of the source targets powered while the wafers are biased to deposit optical dielectric films on the one or more wafers. In some embodiments, a shadow mask can be laterally translated across the one or more wafers during deposition. In some embodiments, deposited films can have lateral and/or horizontal variation in index of refraction and/or lateral variation in thickness.

A holding device for fastening bar cutters in order for the cutting edges thereof to be coated, wherein the fastening is configured in such a way that a plurality of bar cutters can be arranged in a row such that the cutting faces and tips thereof have the same orientation, and the holding device includes a screen which at least partially protects the cutting faces from the coating, wherein, with bar cutters arranged in a row in the manner described, the top edge of the screen projects beyond the knife tips in such a way that no knife tips protrude.

There is a method for forming a film including an alloy film containing multiple types of elements on a surface of a substrate using a film forming target made of the alloy film, comprising: (a) arranging the film forming target and a distribution improvement target; and (b) forming the film on the substrate by simultaneously or alternately sputtering the film forming target and the distribution improvement target, wherein the distribution improvement target is made of a distribution improvement film containing a non-uniform element among the multiple types of elements, and in step (b), a larger amount of the non-uniform element sputtered from the distribution improvement target is supplied to a portion where the distribution amount of the non-uniform element is small compared to a portion where the distribution amount of the non-uniform element is large when the film is formed on the substrate by the film forming target.

A coating system for coating a part (10), such as a turbine blade or vane, has a mask (14) positioned adjacent to a first portion (16) of the part (10) to be coated and a mechanism (30) for moving the mask (14) relative to the part (10). The mechanism (30) may be a gear mechanism or a magnetic mechanism.