Amorphous hydrogenated carbon coatings on microrouters by ECR-CVD system

Ti/TiN/TiCN/a-C:H thin film coatings were deposited on printed circuit board (PCB) microrouters in a hybrid PVD-ECR-CVD coating system. A functionally graded Ti/TiN/TiCN supporting multilayer was initially pre-deposited on the microrouter in order to improve the adhesion strength of the a-C:H film. After the above procedure, dry lubricant a-C:H coating was deposited by ECR-CVD on the surface. For microrouting applications, the combination of hard/soft coating layers, comprising TiN/TiCN/a-C:H, can improve chip flow by lowering the coefficient friction and cutting force. Coating a microrouter with a Ti/TiN/TiCN/a-C:H thin film appears to be the best approach to reducing the manufacturing cost. The results indicate that microrouters coated with a-C:H films may have better quality of microrouted surface finish than those produced using uncoated microrouters. Additionally, a three-fold increase in microrouting lifetime was obtained using the coating.