Patent ID: 6790486
Filing Date: 2004-09-14
Classification: C23C

Abstract:
A process of depositing a ceramic coating on a surface of a component, the process comprising the steps of:providing an evaporation source containing multiple different oxide compounds, at least one of the oxide compounds having a vapor pressure that is higher than the remaining oxide compounds; suspending the component near the evaporation source; projecting a high-energy beam on the evaporation source to simultaneously melt the oxide compounds of the evaporation source and form a vapor cloud of the oxide compounds while preventing the vapor cloud from contacting and condensing on the component during an initial phase in which the relative amount of the at least one oxide compound in the vapor cloud is greater than the relative amount of the at least one oxide compound in the evaporation source; and then allowing the vapor cloud to contact and condense on the component to form the coating during a subsequent phase in which the relative amount of the at least one oxide compound in the vapor cloud is approximately equal to the relative amount of the at least one oxide compound in the evaporation source, whereby the coating deposited during the subsequent phase has a substantially uniform distribution of the at least one oxide compound.