Surface Finishing/Coating

Some decades ago the modification of physical and mechanical properties mainly occurred by altering the composition of the entire material. At the present state of the art, however, the properties of materials are optimized by altering their surface, only. Surfaces are coated with thin layers by means of copious surface finishing techniques, furnishing the materials with desired features.

There are countless properties which can be shaped by surface finishing. Some of the most common are listed in five categories:

  • electric function (conductivity, electric insulation)
  • optical function (reflection, absorption, decoration)
  • interfacial interactions (biocompatibility, wettability, paintability)
  • mechanical protection (wear resistance, friction)
  • barrier function (corrosion resistance, permeation, diffusion, thermal insulation)

The most important coating techniques comprise chemical and physical vapor deposition (CVD and PVD), dip coating, hot dipping, galvanizing, chromate conversion coating, tinning, phosphate conversion coating, sol-gel coating, powder coating, cladding and vortex sintering.

For any employed technique it must be examined whether the applied coatings meet the demanded standards and exhibit a high reproducibility. The GDA 750 HR is capable of determining layer thicknesses between few nanometers and several hundreds of micrometers with a relative depth resolution of 5-10 % of the detected depth. Simultaneously, the chemical composition of the layers and the substrate can be analyzed. Nearly all elements of the periodic table including H, Li, Na, C, N, P and O can be detected with detection limits ranging from 0.1 and 10 ppm.

Analyses with the GDA 750 HR are very time-saving, since one measurement takes only several minutes and no laborious and time-consuming sample preparation is required. Samples can be directly analyzed as received from the production. Furthermore, the GDA 750 HR can be programmed to iden­tify certain desired conditions (e.g. maximum/minimum concentration or layer thickness) automatically. So measurements can be conducted quickly and effortlessly even by untrained operators.

In summary, the Glow Discharge Analyzer GDA 750 HR by Spectruma Analytik is the perfect instrument for fast and reliable measurements for research and production.

For further information on the Glow Discharge Analyzers please follow the link.