Decades of experience maximize the performance
of our DLC coatings and systems
Diverse and powerful DLC capabilities
Diamond-like carbon, or DLC, is an amorphous carbon material sharing many of the characteristics of diamond. As a coating, It can deliver a spectrum of unique and very useful properties such as hardness, low friction, corrosion resistance, transmission in the infrared, and more…
As a coating on windows and lenses, DLC significantly improves resilience. On semiconductor parts, it reduces particle generation. On drivetrain components, it reduces wear and friction. On ophthalmic lenses, it renders them hydrophobic. And that’s just the start.
Precisely shaping DLC properties
The properties of DLC are determined by the proportion of sp3 bonds to sp2 bonds, where crystalline diamond is 100% sp3. This is a fundamental benefit because it allows us to optimize a specific DLC for a specific application.
Thin Film Service has over two decades of experience utilizing Hydrogen, Tungsten, Titanium, Silicon, Nitrogen, Helium, and Oxygen as dopants or additives in designing unique DLC coatings.
The component characteristics
The ternary diagram at the right shows that altering the sp2, sp3, and h fractions of the DLC film will create a coating that is more diamond-like, graphitic, or polymeric. For us, that means the possibilities are virtually endless. We can create high-uniformity and pinhole-free as well as metal-rich DLC films – and much more!
Some of our popular DLC applications
With all the capabilities we can apply, we are able to target our DLC coatings specifically on the requirements of the user and their applications. The following are just a few of the more popular high-performance systems we regularly create. There are many, many more. And we would love to discuss your specific coating needs.
Drivetrain Components
High hardness and low friction reduce the required torque and power. Adding DLC to the fingers and cams further reduces friction. High-aspect-ratio process available to fill cavities 10:1.
Ophthalmic Hydrophobic VIS
Our proprietary process creates
a very flexible DLC that binds directly
to glass and most plastics. Diluted
and post-processed for maximum hydrophobicity
High-Temp iDLN™
Our hydrogenated Si:O rich DLC is arguably the highest sp3 fraction on the market. High hardness, low COF, and extremely low wear rate. Available as dielectric or semi-conductive
Precision Optics DLC
Providing your route to MWIR and
LWIR on Germanium, ZnS, ZnSe, and Chalcogenide glass. Our unique
process controls guarantee perfect adhesion and MIL-C properties.
For complex shapes: our high-performance 360° 3D DLC coatings
One unique advantage of our PECVD DLC is its ability to coat highly-asymmetrical shapes while maintaining excellent uniformity. Unlike PVD-based DLC, our systems do not require expensive, high-maintenance carousels or turntables to achieve basic uniformity. However, adding a carousel to our PECVD DLC system will improve uniformity still further, to levels not possible with PVD.
Wide pressure range (1mtorr to 400mtorr) is another advantage of our DLC processes – allowing a process engineer to control the sheath and pre-sheath thickness of the plasma. Changing the sheath affects the directionality, stress, and aspect ratio of cavities that need to be reached and other properties, as well.
Our special power supplies, tailored to the process at hand, offer further advantages. These power supplies can include RF (with or without slow-pulsing capabilities), Mid-Frequency RF, Pulsed DC, and Asymmetrical Bipolar tunable DC. Each provides unique ways of ionizing the plasma over a wide range of voltages.
