logo
logo
Sign in

Best Process for Highly Durable, Very Adhesive Metal Plating

avatar
Epoxy Adhesives
Best Process for Highly Durable, Very Adhesive Metal Plating

Magnetron sputtering is an advanced plating or coating technique that results in extremely high quality. The process has been adopted in the engineering industry around the world as it offers a high level of adhesion and can achieve good results on a wide variety of objects. Almost any type of alloy, solid and compound can be coated with magnetron sputtering. It is the most flexible in the coating industry.


The magnetron sputtering process is not as simple as vacuum metallizing. A significant amount of pre-cleaning and shaking is required before the object can be placed in a stainless steel chamber. Get more here about this or similar topics electronics assembly adhesives. Advanced air pumps are used to maintain a vacuum in the steel chamber. In addition, rotary machines and coating magnetrons are required.


Generate vacuum


The vacuum in the steel chamber must be created carefully, as it would affect the metallization process. It usually takes 30 minutes of air pumping to achieve the perfect environment in the vacuum chamber. The pressure in the vacuum chamber must be less than one ten-millionth of atmospheric pressure. An inert gas such as argon is used to control the process of creating the vacuum in the steel chamber. Argon helps bring the pressure to the exact pressure needed to use the magnetrons. This entire process must be monitored very carefully as the pressure change would render the process useless. The advantage of this process is that no hazardous chemicals are used and the process is clean to handle.


Application of the magnetrons


The application of magnetrons is a complex process. The metal plate to be coated is called the “target”. Strong magnets are placed behind this plate. Argon is pumped into the chamber and power is supplied to the magnetron machine. The metal plate received a negative voltage. The magnitude of this voltage is typically -300 V. The argon ions are attracted to the surface of the target at high speed due to the negative current and the arrangement of the magnets. When the current is applied, two specific processes take place:


- The environment created in this way with electric current, argon and magnets drives uncharged atoms out of the target. This process is called sputtering. These atoms are sucked into the magnetic shell behind the disk to eventually form the required coating.


- Negatively charged subatomic particles are also released and held in the magnetic shell to create more argon ions. This process continuously replenishes the ion pool.


A special cooling channel is also required because heat is generated during sputtering.


Purification of ions


An important post-sputtering process is the cleaning of ions. The objects must be placed in a low-power environment, allowing ionization of atoms with very little sputtering of the metal used for the coating. A high voltage such as -500V will attract the argon ions and remove even the most microscopic molecular contamination that may have appeared on the surface of the disk. After the cleaning process, the deposit can be controlled as needed for the electroplating process.


Conclusion


Magnetron sputtering has become popular worldwide due to several key characteristics. It offers a highly adhesive coating with very high hardness. The coating achieved by magnetron sputtering is extremely wear-resistant and durable.


Recommended here: https://www.epoxyadhesiveglue.com/consumer-electronics-assembly/

collect
0
avatar
Epoxy Adhesives
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more