Method for Producing a Coating

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of forming a coating for deposition to non-metallic surfaces, comprising the steps of applying (120) a semiconductor material to a substrate to form a semiconductor material layer and simultaneously or subsequently applying (140) metallic material or additional semiconductor material, wherein the metallic material or additional semiconductor material is introduced into the semiconductor material layer in a targeted manner to tailor the optical properties of the coating.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a coating for a deposition to non-metallic surfaces comprising: applying a semiconductor material to a substrate to form a semiconductor material layer, simultaneous or subsequent deposition of metallic material or additional semiconductor material, the metallic material or the additional semiconductor material being introduced into the semiconductor material layer in a targeted manner in order to adapt the optical properties of the coating.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor material is added in the form of a pure substance.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic material is added in the form of a pure substance.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least the metallic material to be applied or the amount of metallic material to be applied or the deposition area of the metallic material to be applied is selected at least partly on the basis of the absorption coefficient k of the metallic material in the optical area.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least the deposition of the semiconductor material or the deposition of the metallic material is carried out via a thermal treatment.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least the amount of metallic material applied or the proportion of metallic material applied in relation to the sum of semiconductor material and metallic material is effected at least via a variation of the treatment time or a variation of the treatment temperature.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the deposition of the semiconductor material to the substrate takes place at least partially simultaneously with the deposition of a portion of metallic material.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the deposition of the semiconductor material and the metallic material is carried out at least via a chemical or physical coating process.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein a negative bias voltage is applied to the substrate to be coated during a deposition of the semiconductor material, the negative bias voltage being less than 200 V.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein a shielding gas is used in a deposition of the semiconductor material.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein before a semiconductor material is applied to a substrate, a pretreatment of the substrate surface is carried out in order to bring about stronger adhesion of the semiconductor material layer to the substrate.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein after a deposition of a semiconductor material and a simultaneous or subsequent deposition of metallic material, a final deposition of a protective layer takes place.

13. A coating for deposition to non-metallic surfaces, producible by a method according to claim 1, comprising a semiconductor material layer having a portion of metallic material or additional semiconductor material integrated within the semiconductor material layer.

14. The coating according to claim 13, wherein the coating is in the form of a monolayer.

15. The coating according to claim 13, wherein the coating has a layer thickness of less than 120 nm.

16. The coating according to claim 13, wherein the coating has a layer thickness of between 20 and 120 nm.

17. The coating according to claim 13, wherein less than 50% by weight, of the metallic material is present in the coating.

18. The coating according to claim 13, wherein the coating has an average absorption coefficient kin the optical range of >2.

19. The coating according to claim 13, wherein the coating has a transparency of >80% in a frequency range between 76 and 77 GHz.

20. The coating according to claim 13, wherein the semiconductor material is in the form of a pure substance.

21. The coating according to claim 13, wherein the metallic material is in the form of a pure substance.

Description

[0032] Further advantages, features and details of the invention will be apparent from the following description, in which embodiments of the invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this connection, the features mentioned in the claims and in the description may each be essential to the invention individually or in any combination.

[0033] It show:

[0034] FIG. 1a-c a schematic representation of a plot of the L-value (a), the a-value (b) and the b-value (c) of an L*a*b color space as a function of the metal content of a coating according to the invention,

[0035] FIG. 2 a schematic representation of a plot of the reflection index (%) of various coatings in the wavelength range 350 nm to 750 nm,

[0036] FIG. 3 a schematic representation of a plot of the reflection index (%) of various coatings in the wavelength range 350 nm to 750 nm,

[0037] FIG. 4 a schematic representation of a plot of the L-value (top), the a-value (middle) and the b-value (bottom) of an L*a*b color space as a function of the layer thickness of a coating according to the invention in accordance with a first embodiment and a reference measurement,

[0038] FIG. 5 a schematic representation of the individual steps of a method according to the invention for producing a coating for a deposition to non-metallic surfaces.

[0039] FIGS. 1a-c show a schematic representation of a plot of the L-value (FIG. 1a), the a-value (FIG. 1b) and the b-value (FIG. 1c) of an L*a*b color space as a function of the metal content of a coating according to the invention.

[0040] As can be seen from FIGS. 1 a-c, the L-, a- and b-values of the L*a*b color space vary specifically as a function of the composition of the coating according to the invention. The proportion of metal in the coating according to the invention is proportional to the evaporation power (in kW). Thus, the L-value of a coating according to the invention initially decreases with increasing metal content, before briefly increasing at a value of about 0.5 kW and then further decreasing with further addition of a metallic material. The a-value, on the other hand, increases steadily up to a value of about 0.5 kW, before falling steadily from a value of about 0.5 kW. The b-value, on the other hand, decreases steadily from a first addition of a metallic material.

[0041] On the basis of the depositions according to FIGS. 1a-1c , it can therefore be seen that the optical properties of the coating according to the invention can be varied in a targeted manner by selective admixing or deposition of metallic material.

[0042] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a plot of the reflection index (%) of various coatings in the wavelength range 350 nm to 750 nm. Coating 1 consists here of pure silicon, whereas coating 2 is a coating according to the invention with silicon and a low chromium content, and coating 3 is a coating according to the invention with silicon and a high chromium content.

[0043] As can be seen from FIG. 2, the reflection index in the optical range from 350 to 750 nm is clearly dependent on the composition of the coating layer. Thus, although the course of the reflection index of the three coatings 1-3 is basically similar in the wavelength range 350 nm to 750 nm, coating layer 1 (pure Si) shows the highest reflection index between 500 and 750 nm. Coating 2 (Si+little Cr), on the other hand, exhibits a significantly lower reflection index between 500 and 750 nm, but this is still greater than that of coating 3 (Si+much Cr).

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of a plot of the reflection index (%) of different coatings in the wavelength range 350 nm to 750 nm, the coating 1′ consists here of pure silicon, whereas the coating 2′ is a coating according to the invention with silicon and high germanium content (semiconductor material+doped additional semiconductor material, (semiconductor material +doped additional semiconductor material which is different from the semiconductor material for the formation of a semiconductor material layer) and the coating 3′ represents a coating according to the invention with silicon and medium germanium content and the coating 4′ represents a coating with silicon and low germanium content.

[0045] As can be seen from FIG. 3, the reflection index in the optical range from 350 to 750 nm is clearly dependent on the composition of the coating layer. Thus, although the course of the reflection index of the four coatings 1′-4′ is basically similar in the wavelength range 350 nm to 750 nm, coating layer 1′ (pure Si) shows the highest reflection index between 500 and 750 nm. Coating 2′ (Si+much Ge) shows a lower reflection index between 500 and 750 nm, but it is still greater than that of coatings 3′ (Si +medium amount of Ge) and 4′ (Si+small amount of Ge).

[0046] FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of a plot of the L-value (top), the a-value (middle) and the b-value (bottom) of an L*a*b color space as a function of the layer thickness of a coating according to the invention (circle) in accordance with a first embodiment and a reference measurement (square).

[0047] As can be seen from FIG. 4, the reference measurements (pure Si) show in principle the same trend with regard to the L-, a- and b-values as the coating (Si +Cr), namely that the L-value decreases with increasing coating thickness, the a-value increases with increasing coating thickness and the b-value initially remains constant with increasing coating thickness and then decreases slightly. However, it can be clearly seen that the L- and a-values, in particular the b-values, are significantly higher for the pure semiconductor material and consequently achieve a partially undesirable garish color perception.

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of the individual steps of a method according to the invention for producing a coating for a deposition to non-metallic surfaces.

[0049] In this context, the method according to the present invention first comprises a first optional step of pretreating 100 the substrate surface in order to bring about stronger adhesion of the semiconductor material layer to the substrate. The pretreatment 100 can preferably comprise the deposition of an adhesive layer, wherein the adhesive layer can be formed in particular in the form of a lacquer layer.

[0050] Subsequently, according to the method according to the invention, a deposition 120 of a semiconductor material is carried out on a substrate to form a semiconductor material layer and a deposition 140 of metallic material is carried out, whereby the metallic material is introduced into the semiconductor material layer in a targeted manner to adapt the optical properties of the coating. The deposition 140 of the metallic material can take place simultaneously or also subsequently to the deposition 120 of the semiconductor material.

[0051] In order to integrate improved protection or additional properties into the coating in question, a protective layer can optionally be applied, whereby the protective layer can be formed in particular in the form of a lacquer layer or the like.

[0052] By means of the method according to the invention or the coating according to the invention, it is possible, in particular via a targeted introduction of a metallic material into a semiconductor layer, to generate a coating with an appealing metallic outer appearance that can be used in a variety of ways, in particular also for radar depositions or in the field of capacitive sensors, and whose appearance is at the same time largely independent of the viewing angle.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0053] 100 Pretreating a substrate surface

[0054] 120 Deposition of a semiconductor material

[0055] 140 Deposition of a metallic material

[0056] 160 Deposition of a protective coating