A method for fabricating an external element or a timepiece dial from non-conductive material, by performing or repeating a basic cycle of making a base from a non-conductive, or ceramic, or glass. or sapphire substrate; dry coating the base with a first sacrificial protective metal layer; etching a decoration with an ultrashort pulse laser to a depth at least equal to the local thickness of the first layer; dry coating the decoration and the remaining part of the first layer with a second metal and/or coloured decorative treatment layer; chemically removing each first layer; and before or after chemical removal of each first layer, mechanically levelling on the upper level of the base the compound thus formed.

A method for manufacturing appliques on a dial for a timepiece.

Implementations disclosed describe, among other things, a system and a method of scanning a substrate with a beam of light and detecting for each of a set of locations of the substrate, a respective one of a set of intensity values associated with a beam of light reflected from (or transmitted through) the substrate. The detected intensity values are used to determine a profile of a thickness of the substrate.

A bioactive coated substrate includes a base substrate, a first interlayer disposed over the base substrate, an outermost bioactive layer disposed on the first interlayer, and a topcoat layer disposed on the outermost bioactive layer. Characteristically, a plurality of microscopic openings extending through the topcoat layer and the outermost bioactive layer expose the first interlayer and the outermost bioactive layer. A method for forming the bioactive coated substrate is also provided.

An object of the present invention is to provide active material particles excellent in ion uptake ability. The silicon-based active material particles according to the present invention comprise a layer structure. Here, the “silicon-based active material particles” are, for example, active material particles for forming a negative electrode of a lithium ion secondary battery. Examples of the active material particles for forming the negative electrode of the lithium ion secondary battery include so-called Si-based active materials such as silicon (Si), silicon oxide (SiO.sub.x), metal element-containing silicon oxide containing alkaline metal elements such as lithium (Li) and alkaline earth metal elements such as magnesium (Mg), silicon alloys. The thickness of the layer in the active material particles is preferably 1 μm or less. Here, the thickness of the layer is preferably 0.01 μm or more.

An unchamfered piston ring that is pre-treated by grit blasting to a defined roughness, followed by PVD coating with a metal nitride to a thickness of at least 10 μm, leaving peaks and valleys in the coated piston ring. The coated piston ring is then lapped to remove the peaks without penetrating the coating, so that valleys and plateaus remain in the coated surface. The resulting piston ring exhibits superior coating retention due to the increased surface area created by the grit blasting, and yet also superior performance, as the cavities remaining increase the porosity of the coating and thus enhance the lubrication of the ring.

An alpha-alumina coated turbocharger turbine wheel includes a hub portion, a plurality of blades disposed about the hub portion, each blade of the plurality of blades having a leading edge and a trailing edge, a centerline passing axially through the hub portion, and a back-side wall defined radially between the leading edge of each blade of the plurality of blades and the centerline. The turbocharger turbine wheel is made of a metal alloy and a surface coating layer of alpha-alumina. The surface coating layer of alpha-alumina may be disposed only on the hub portion, the plurality of blades, and a radially-outer portion of the back-side wall. The radially-outer portion is defined between a radial distance from the centerline and the leading edge of each blade of the plurality of blades. Alternatively, the surface coating layer of alpha-alumina may be disposed on the hub portion, the plurality of blades, and an entirety of the back-side wall.

A method for manufacturing a composite structure comprising a thin layer made of monocrystalline silicon carbide arranged on a carrier substrate made of silicon carbide, the method comprising: a) a step of providing a donor substrate made of monocrystalline SiC, the donor substrate comprising a donor layer produced by epitaxial growth on an initial substrate, the donor layer exhibiting a density of crystal defects that is lower than that of the initial substrate; b) a step of ion implantation of light species into the donor layer, in order to form a buried brittle plane delimiting the thin layer between the buried brittle plane and a free face of the donor layer; c) a succession of n steps of formation of carrier layers, with n greater than or equal to 2, the n carrier layers being arranged on the donor layer successively on one another and forming the carrier substrate, each step of formation comprising a chemical vapor deposition, at a temperature of between 400° C. and 1100° C., in order to form a carrier layer made of polycrystalline SiC, the n chemical vapor depositions being carried out at n different temperatures; d) a step of separation along the buried brittle plane, in order to form, on the one hand, a composite structure comprising the thin layer on the carrier substrate and, on the other hand, the remainder of the donor substrate; and e) a step of mechanical and/or chemical treatment(s) of the composite structure.

A coated cutting tool which has, on a surface of a substrate, a layer A of a face-centered cubic lattice structure which is a nitride or carbonitride containing 50 atom % or more of Al, 20 atom % or more of Cr, 85 atom % or more of Al and Cr, and 4 atom % or more and 15 atom % or less of Si, and a layer B provided on the layer A. The layer B is a nitride or carbon nitride which contains 70 atom % or more and 90 atom % or less of Ti, 5 atom % or more and 20 atom % or less of Si, and 1 atom % or more and 10 atom % or less of Nb or Cr in terms of a total amount of metal (including metalloid) elements, and has the face-centered cubic lattice structure.

A method for surface treatment of a DLC coated member that includes: taking as a treatment subject a DLC coated member having a DLC film coated on a base material surface; ejecting substantially spherical ejection particles having a median diameter of from 1 μm to 20 μm and a falling time through air of not less than 10 s/m against a surface of the film of the member at an ejection pressure of from 0.01 MPa to 0.7 MPa; and forming dimples on the surface of the film without exposing the base material so that a total projected area of the dimples is 50% or more of a treated region and so that the surface of the DLC film is processed to an arithmetic mean height (Sa) of from 0.01 μm to 0.1 μm and a texture aspect ratio (Str) of 0.4 or more.