公司简介
Acree Technologies公司由一群曾受雇于大半导体制造国家实验室的经验丰富的科学家发起成立于2004，依托其已商业化的、领先的等离子体技术，而在物理气相沉积镀膜领域独占鳌头。
产品列表
Corrosion Resistant Coatings
Acree Technologies offers corrosion resistant coatings. These coatings are used in applications ranging from salt water exposure in marine environments, to the inside of oil pipelines, to coatings for pacemaker electrodes for heart patients. Frequently, these applications also require wear or erosion resistance. For example, propellers on small, shallow water craft require corrosion resistance against sea water but also resistance to erosion from sand and cavitation effects. At ATI we have developed coating systems that satisfy this dual role - increased corrosion resistance while providing increased mechanical durability.
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| Uncoated steel-corrosion | Steel coated by Acree-no corrosion |
The optical micrographs above illustrate the benefits of coating. Both parts were submerged in a customer specified salt water brine (NaCl) mixture. After just 7 days in the solution, the uncoated steel shows significant corrosion damage. In contrast, the coated part shows no corrosion damage following the same exposure.
DLC | Diamond-Like Carbon Coatings
DLC is an acronym for diamond-like carbon. DLC has some of the valuable properties of diamond, including: high hardness, low friction, resistance to wear, chemical inertness, biological compatability, electrical insulation, optical transparency, and smoothness. In common terms, DLC is harder than natural diamond and slicker than "Teflon."
DLC coatings are used to impart some of the useful characteristics of diamonds onto other materials. DLC coatings can be deposited on nearly all metals, metal alloys, and also on nonmetals such as silicon, glass, ceramics, plastics, etc. DLC can be deposited at low (<200C) substrate temperature.
DLC coating has many commercial applications, including machine tools, aerospace parts, engine parts, medical implants, and high-end watches. Depending on the application, different formulations of DLC coatings are used.
Transparent Conductive Oxide Coatings
Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) coatings include materials such as ITO, AZO, IGO, ZGO, and have found wide use due to their unique combination of high electrical conductivity and transparency in the visible portion of the spectrum.
Typical applications include electrodes for touch displays and solar cells, heat mirrors, and EMI shielding. In all these forms, the optical performance is measured by its transparency in the visible portion of the spectrum. For some applications its value is also in its ability to reject IR radiation, typically beyond 1 µm. For example low-E window coatings initially employed Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) layers as the broadband IR reflector.
Acree Technologies is a world leader in transparent conductive oxide coatings. We use sophisticated computer simulations to develop a coating with the desired properties, and then employ proprietary technologies to deposit it. Typically TCO coatings are multi-layered, and can include absorbing, insulating, and metallic/conductive layers. The multi-layer structure permits great flexibility in the type of effects we can achieve. Most of these films are put down using highly ionized deposition techniques, which creates dense and highly adherent films with excellent electro-optical performance. High ionization also features increased reactivity in both the vapor phase and the condensation process, which permits low working temperatures. This allows us to coat highly temperature sensitive materials such as plastics. We use in situ feedback and computer control to produce high quality, reproducible films.
Some examples of unique optical coatings we have developed for clients include:
Transparent, electrically conductive coatings for aircraft canopies, windscreens, and windows. These coatings fulfill a variety of purposes- improved EMI shielding, improved resistance to wear, and improved transmission properties.
Coatings for HID lamps to reduce UV transmission and increase IR reflection. The coating increases their efficiency by raising the internal temperature, which results in more visible light emitted for less electrical power. This also increases their working lifetime.
Surface treatment that provides tenacious adhesion of coatings to plastics, even hard to coat plastics such as acrylic.
Hard anti-reflective (AR) coatings for safety lenses and visors.
Erosion Resistant Coatings
Acree Technologies has developed erosion resistant coatings that are extremely effective against airborne particle impact, erosion and wear. The coatings were optimized using Finite Element (FE) computer modeling, and they consist of a very hard and tough ceramic multilayer coating system. The coatings have been tested extensively for erosion resistance under a wide variety of particle impact angles and speeds on a number of substrates. The coatings are thin, so dimensional tolerances are not affected. Because of their hardness, toughness and ease of application, these coatings can be used on virtually any component suffering from erosion or wear. Complex shapes can be coated because Acree uses a specialized non-line-of-sight coating process. Any turbine engine or rotary compressor that suffers from erosion due to airborne particle impact will benefit from these coatings.
Coatings for Medical / Biomedical Devices and Surgical Instruments
Download Acree Medical Coatings Brochure
Biomedical devices are designed to improve quality of life, and current methods are remarkable in their scope and efficacy. In fact, they are so commonplace as to almost be considered "routine." However, surgery to implant a biomedical device is still not a thing to be taken lightly. The implanted devices have to perform perfectly and to last. Therefore, they need to be:
Biocompatible - chemically inert (non-mutagenic, non-hemolytic, non-pyrogenic) to prevent rejection and/or adverse reactions
Low Friction - moving surfaces must have low friction characteristics to ensure precise, smooth operation
Durable - All surfaces of an implant must be durable and corrosion resistant to ensure long and trouble-free operation. When wear does occur, the resulting byproducts must not be capable of embedding in nearby tissue
PVD coatings have proven critical in meeting these requirements for all materials commonly used in biomedical devices-stainless steel, titanium, ceramics, and other advanced materials. Acree has created high performance biomedical coatings. Acree's biomedical coatings feature:
Nanocrystalline structure that is free of pores, columnar structures, and inclusions (any of which can lead to cracks, corrosion, or wear). Nanocrystalline structure has a lower coefficient of friction than commonly used polymers and polycarbonate materials
Very high levels of process control, coating uniformity, and adhesion
Acree also has developed great expertise in depositing these thin films on the devices, which is an art in itself. Acree has proven successful with the following biomedical applications:
Corrosion resistant and biocompatible coatings for pacemaker electrodes
Wear resistant, biocompatible coatings for Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD)
Diamond like Carbon (DLC) coatings for implantable joint replacements
Catheters - Acree has developed a number of coatings for catheters, including, hermetic coatings to prevent water and fluid infiltration, lubricious coatings that allow easy insertion into sheathes and tissue, and the fabrication of advanced electrodes for state-of-the-art catheters that allow real time feedback and control during use. For the advanced electrodes, Acree has developed proprietary patterning techniques that allow small (< 1mm in size), complex shaped, multilayered electrodes to be applied to the catheter. These electrodes are used for a variety of feedback and diagnostic treatments.
In conjunction with a major biomedical manufacturer, Acree currently is performing research and development on ultra-high endurance coatings for the next-generation of replacement joints.
Wear Resistant Coatings
Acree has developed wear resistant coatings that offer superior protection against abrasive, adhesive and surface fatigue wear for gears, bearings, bushings and other high-wear surfaces. We offer a wide variety of coatings that provide improved surface hardness and toughness. A number of material approaches are used, such as titanium nitride and carbide. Typical hardness values for the TiCN system range from 2270 – 3150 HV, depending upon the exact composition. For reference, heat treated tool steel possesses a hardness of about 850 HV. While improvements are obtained with single layer coatings, multilayer coatings add additional features, such as combining low surface friction and high hardness simultaneously. Multilayer and nanoscale engineered structures provide improved performance for wear characteristics. Examples include nanocomposite materials and super lattice multilayer films. These structures can also be graded to improve adhesive strength and reduce stress.
SCIENCE IMPROVING PRODUCTION
Acree commercializes plasma technology in the fields of thin film coatings and material science, including sales of specialized equipment used in these fields. Acree offers:
Complete Deposition Systems
Acree Technologies fabricates complete deposition systems. The finished product is a turn-key, computer controlled, fully automated system custom built for your specific application.
Highest quality fabrication
Customized coating and process to meet your specific needs; the coating is seamlessly integrated with the deposition process
Engineered for your recipe; computer control gives you the ability to make changes to any step of the recipe
Delivers a 100% repeatable process
Value- the cost is typically less than an "off the shelf" system; yet your custom system will outperform the "stock" coater.
Scientific research required to develop your coating
Coating of prototypes (testing available, but we typically return the parts to the client for them to test)
Fabrication of all required equipment
