DIAMOND-LIKE COATINGS FOR OPTICS

Diamond-like carbon coating is a class of amorphous carbon material that displays some of the typical properties of diamond. The coatings have unique properties such as low friction, high hardness, high corrosion resistance and good transmission in the infrared. DLC applied as a coating on windows and lenses improves their resilience.

DLC coatings are used throughout the infrared optics industry to create an extremely hard, durable surface on exposed optical elements to withstand the harshest environments such as:

abrasive action from airborne particles
sea/saltwater
engine oil/fuel or high humidity

Our DLC coatings are applied using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) technology which is a chemical vapor deposition process used to deposit thin films from a gas state or vapor to a solid state on a substrate. This capability compliments our full in-house suite of capabilities and can be applied to a variety of substrates.

PECVD System Performance

Uniformity of DLC (Thickness, glass slides)
13-point along 2 horizontal axes: ±3.3%, thickness 0.7% run-to-run over 5 consecutive runs
5-point along the radius: %Tav (8-12µm) < ± 0.2%
%Tav 8-12µm: < ±0.5% run-to-run over 5 runs
3-5µm: %Tpeak±0.7% run-to-run over 5 runs

Advantages

High hardness
Low friction
Superior dicing capability
High corrosion resistance
Resistant to adhesive wear
Excellent surface quality
Coatings up to 18 in
Anti-reflective properties

Substrates We Can Coat

Germanium
Silicon
Zinc Sulfide
Zinc Selenide
Fused Silica
Chalcogenides

Applications

Defense/Space
Thermal Imaging
Medical
Automotive
Flame Detection
Pyroelectric/Thermopile