Characterization of thick ceramic and cermet coatings deposited by an industrial-scale LAFAD process

The unidirectional LAFAD dual-arc vapor plasma source yields 100% ionized metal vapor plasma flow and more than 50% ionized gaseous plasma in the coating chamber. The LAFAD technology deposits thick ceramic and cermet coatings with multi-elemental nanostructured architectures, nearly defect-free morphology and atomically smooth surfaces at high deposition rates. The productivity of one unidirectional LAFAD vapor plasma source integrated into an industrial-scale batch coating system ranges from 3–4 µm/h for nitride base coatings and up to 6 µm/h for oxi-ceramic coatings with good uniformity over large deposition areas, making it an attractive alternative to other PVD processes for a wide variety of applications. The 20 µm to 100 μm monolithic and Ti/TiN microlaminated LAFAD coatings exhibit low residual compressive stresses, i.e. < 1.5 GPa, resulting in exceptionally good adhesive and cohesive toughness. The fracture resistance of ultra-thick LAFAD coatings vs. coating architecture will be discussed.