Vacuum arc deposition of decorative and protective coatings

Summary form only given, as follows. Summary form only given. Plasma processing of materials is a key technology, which is focused on developing new products or improving features of existing products. The technology influences the function and the quality of technical products. Important properties like corrosion protection, wear resistance, friction reduction, optical reflectivity/transparency, biocompatibility or decoration are improved. An installation for vacuum arc deposition is presented. Its potential in the field of decorative coatings for large area glass and steel sheets is demonstrated Particularly it is possible to deposit patterned coatings through a textile polymeric mask. TiN, TiO/sub 2/ and multilayer TiN/TiO/sub 2/ coatings on silicate glass and stainless steel have been characterized in terms of composition and corrosion resistance. The depth profiling was made with the aid of Auger electron spectroscopy. Uniform multilayer coatings having various colors are also deposited onto large-area glass and steel strips. The architectural applications are demonstrated.