Plasma Enhanced High-Rate Deposition of Advanced Film Materials by Metal Reactive Evaporation in Organosilicon Vapors.

Dense homogeneous nanocomposite TiSiCN coatings with a thickness of up to 15 microns and a hardness of up to 42 GPa were obtained by the method of reactive titanium evaporation in a hollow cathode arc discharge in an Ar + CH + N-gas mixture with the addition of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS). An analysis of the plasma composition showed that this method allowed for a wide range of changes in the activation degree of all components of the gas mixture, providing a high (up to 20 mA/cm) ion current density. It is possible to widely change the chemical composition, microstructure, deposition rate, and properties of coatings obtained by this method, by changing the pressure, composition, and activation degree of the vapor-gas mixture.

Dense Electrode Layers-Supported Microtubular Oxygen Pump.

An oxygen pump is an electrochemical device that extracts oxygen from the air and has the potential to be used in medicine. The development and test results of a microtubular solid oxide oxygen pump with CeGdO (GDC) electrolyte are presented. The supporting components of the oxygen pump are symmetrical dense electrode layers made of the LaSrCoFeO (LSCF)-GDC composite.

Synthesis of Nanocomposite TiSiCN Coatings by Titanium Evaporation and Organosilicon Compound Activation in Hollow Cathode Arc Discharge.

TiSiCN coatings have been obtained by anode evaporation of titanium and the decomposition of hexamethyldisilazane in an arc discharge, using a self-heated hollow cathode, at the pressure rate of 1 mTorr of the Ar+N gas mixture. The proposed method makes it possible to independently and widely change the amount of metal and precursor vapor flows, the pressure and composition of the vapor-gas mixture and the degree of ionic interaction on the surface of the growing coating within a single discharge system. The paper presents the method and the results of the effect of a current discharge (10-50 A), and the flux of precursor vapours (0-1 g/h), on deposition rates, compositions, and properties of TiSiCN coatings deposited by an advanced combined PVD+PECVD method.

Synthesis of Lithium Phosphorus Oxynitride (LiPON) Thin Films by LiPO Anodic Evaporation in Nitrogen Plasma of a Low-Pressure Arc Discharge.

Thin amorphous films of LiPON solid electrolyte were prepared by anodic evaporation of lithium orthophosphate LiPO in an arc discharge with a self-heating hollow cathode at a nitrogen pressure of 1 Pa. Distribution of the arc current between two electrodes having an anode potential provided independent control of the evaporation rate of LiPO and the density of nitrogen plasma. Stabilization of the evaporation rate was achieved using a crucible with multi-aperture cover having floating potential.

Ferrogels Ultrasonography for Biomedical Applications.

Ferrogels (FG) are magnetic composites that are widely used in the area of biomedical engineering and biosensing. In this work, ferrogels with different concentrations of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized by the radical polymerization of acrylamide in stabilized aqueous ferrofluid. FG samples were prepared in various shapes that are suitable for different characterization techniques.