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Ion plating is a technique where a metal or compound is vaporized and ionized by an electric arc, then propelled at high speed towards a target’s surface to bond with it. The process is done in a vacuum chamber or inert gas atmosphere. The surface must be cleaned before plating. The technique can be modified to create new compounds. Coatings are thin and uniform, making it suitable for irregular shapes and coatings that cannot be applied with other techniques.
Ion plating is a technique by which coatings of a substance, usually a metal or compound, are deposited on a target part or surface. The coating material is vaporized and ionized by an electric arc, then propelled at high speed towards the target, where the electrical charge of the ionized particles causes them to bond with the target’s surface. This technique is sometimes called physical vapor deposition. It is usually done in a vacuum chamber or in an inert gas atmosphere.
The materials to be ion-plated are first treated to remove any foreign bodies and to clean all surfaces. This is done in the same environment where the plating is to be done and is called sputtering. The sputtering process is similar to the plating process below, but the target is bombarded with ions of another material, such as argon gas, which strips the surface of any foreign matter, rather than binding to the target. The surface must be perfectly clean to ensure proper adhesion of the coating material.
Once the target has been treated and prepared for coating, the ion plating process begins. The coating material is vaporized using an electric arc current which uses a very low voltage with a high current flow. This not only vaporizes the coating material, but ionizes the individual atoms which repel each other due to their identical electrical charges. This vapor is then propelled towards the target, which is given a weak opposing electric charge to attract the ionized coating material. This causes the vaporized ions of the coating to bond with the prepared surface.
The basic technique for ion plating can be modified in several ways. By introducing certain gases and other vaporized ions into an enclosed environment, vaporized ions of a material can be combined with other ions to create a new compound which then binds to the target. The combination of different types of materials allows for a wide variety of coatings.
Coatings applied with ion plating techniques are often very thin and very uniform. These coatings can have thicknesses of the order of microns. The ability to apply such thin coatings evenly makes this technique good for parts with irregular shapes, as well as for applying coatings that cannot be applied with other techniques, such as electroplating.
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