Method for rapid deposition of a coating on a substrate

Abstract

A process of depositing a coating on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of: (a) depositing material on a substrate by performing a cathodic Vacuum arc (CVA) deposition step; and (b) depositing material on a substrate by performing at least one of a chemical vapour deposition (CVD) step and a physical Vapour deposition (PVD) step that excludes CVA deposition, Wherein the thickness of the material deposited in step (b) is greater than the thickness of the material deposited in step (a).

1 . A process of depositing a coating on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) depositing material on a substrate by performing a cathodic vacuum arc (CVA) deposition step; and   (b) depositing material on a substrate by performing at least one of a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) step and a physical vapor deposition (PVD) step that excludes CVA deposition,   wherein the thickness of the material deposited in step (b) is greater than the thickness of material deposited in step (a).   
     
     
         2 . The process as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said step (a) comprises the step of depositing material on a substrate by performing a filtered vacuum cathodic arc deposition (FVCA) step. 
     
     
         3 . The process as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein said step (b) comprises a PVD step that deposits material faster than the (FVCA) step. 
     
     
         4 . The process as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein said step (b) comprises a sputtering step. 
     
     
         5 . A process as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising the step of repeating alternating steps of at least one of (a) and (b) to form subsequent layers. 
     
     
         6 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein said material comprises at least one of a hard metal, hard metal compound and carbon. 
     
     
         7 . The process according to  claim 6 , wherein said hard metal compound is at least one of a hard metal oxide, a hard metal carbide, a hard metal nitride, a hard metal carbonitride, a hard metal silicide and a hard metal boride. 
     
     
         8 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein said material comprises at least one of a soft metal, soft metal compound and carbon. 
     
     
         9 . The process according to  claim 8 , wherein said soft metal compound is at least one of a soft metal oxide, a soft metal carbide, a soft metal nitride, a soft metal carbonitride, a soft metal silicide and a soft metal boride. 
     
     
         10 . The process according to  claim 4 , wherein said sputtering step deposits a layer of material that has a thickness dimension greater than said FCVA step. 
     
     
         11 . The process according to  claim 10 , wherein said sputtering step deposits layer of material that has a thickness dimension between 2 to 10 times that of the layer deposited by said FCVA step. 
     
     
         12 . The process according to  claim 2 , wherein said FCVA deposition layer is deposited directly on said substrate. 
     
     
         13 . The process according to  claim 4 , wherein said sputtering step deposits a material layer ranging from about 0.1 microns to about 1 micron in thickness. 
     
     
         14 . The process according to  claim 4 , wherein said FCVA step deposits a material layer ranging from about 0.01 microns to about 0.2 microns in thickness.