Tungsten carbide: guaranteed to be free of binders

       

Tungsten carbide (WC) is used to produce DLC coatings (diamond-like carbon). This type of coating is extremely hard and long lasting, protecting the engine and other auto parts under high stress from wear. By reducing the coefficient of friction, DLC coating can extend the life of gears, stamping dies and many other components.

When we produce sputtering targets, we only use tungsten carbide without binders. Tungsten carbide does not contain substances such as nickel or cobalt. During the coating process, the target material becomes fine particles and diffuses, which will endanger human health when inhaled. However, using Plansee's tungsten carbide targets without binders will definitely guarantee your safety.

Tungsten carbide is combined with carbon to form a WC/a-C:H layer, which is sprayed using reactive magnetron sputtering technology. Usually a layer of chromium is sprayed on the bottom to improve the adhesion of the DLC layer.



For tungsten carbide coating, we provide round, rectangular or bonded targets on molybdenum or copper backplanes. The bonded target is more stable and less likely to break, so it is easier to handle. We generally use indium as the welding material, but other materials can also be used according to specific application conditions.

List of the most important factors

Purity [%] 99.9

Reliable density [g/cm3] 15.50

Particle size [µm] 2

Thermal conductivity [W/(m• K)] 120

Coefficient of thermal expansion [1/K] 4,3 · 10-6

High density, smooth layer

As a ceramic material, tungsten carbide must be compacted at a high temperature of 1900 to 2200 °C. This is why we use hot pressing technology to produce targets, the density of which reaches 99% of the theoretical density. Therefore, no powder particles are released during the sputtering process, and the adhesion of the coating is very good.



Optimal microstructure: ideal coating

Since our raw material is composed of tungsten carbide powder with the smallest grain size, the microstructure of the target material is very fine and uniform. The advantage is that the target material is uniformly abraded during the coating process, ensuring that you can get a smoother coating. Due to the further optimization of the microstructure, we can also use tungsten carbide to produce arc cathodes.



Better thermal shock resistance: long service life

During the coating process, the target material will be affected by high temperature. Once the sputtering is complete, the material cools rapidly again. This may cause cracks or breaks in the target material. Thanks to our special production process, our targets have excellent thermal shock resistance and can easily withstand countless heating/cooling cycles.



Purity quality assurance

The highest purity molybdenum ore

The purer the coating material, the better the quality of the hard material layer. From the beginning, we only use the finest powders, and we mix these powders in our own equipment to ensure extremely high material purity. From powder to finished product, we monitor every step and ensure that only targets with specified density, purity and uniform microstructure are shipped.