Patent ID: 8029875
Filing Date: 2011-10-04
Classification: C23C

Abstract:
1. A method for plasma ion deposition and coating formation comprising: providing a vacuum chamber comprising a hollow substrate having a length, diameter and interior surface and an electrode provided within the interior of said hollow substrate, extending along all or a portion of said hollow substrate length, wherein said electrode is hollow and includes one or more spaced openings to provide a precursor gas and said electrode is coupled to a gas inlet port wherein said gas travels down the length of said hollow electrode and is uniformly distributed within said hollow substrate; reducing the pressure in said chamber to a value of at or below about 10 introducing an inert gas into said chamber to obtain a pressure of about 0.5 mTorr to 100 mTorr, applying a negative bias to said hollow substrate and sputter cleaning said substrate; introducing a coupling layer precursor gas including silane compounds into said chamber, applying a negative bias to said hollow substrate and forming a coupling layer; introducing a first coating precursor gas at a flow rate of about 0.5 to 200 sccm and obtaining a pressure of about 0.5 to 100 millitorr and generating a plasma within said chamber; applying a negative bias to said hollow substrate to draw ions from said plasma to said interior surface of said hollow substrate to form a first diamond like carbon coating; introducing at least one second coating precursor gas into said chamber and forming a second diamond like carbon coating having a thickness of up to 15.0 μm, wherein at least one second coating precursor gas is different from said first coating precursor gas, and wherein said coating has a Vickers Hardness Number (Hv) of at least 500.