OERLIKON BALZERS COATING OPENS

For years, PVD-coated tools have driven substantial performance and productivity gains in cutting operations. In the majority of cases, this successful trend has focused on metal-nitride coatings such as TiN, TiAlN or AlCrN. Oerlikon Balzers Coating has achieved a decisive technological breakthrough with its proprietary and patented P3e technology: the deposition of hard metaloxide coatings at coating temperatures below 600°C. The remarkable aspects are that the conventional hard layers can be combined with hard metal oxides almost arbitrarily, and that the properties of the coating system can be fine-tuned to an unprecedented degree. This opens up completely new possibilities for the design of high-performance tools.

P3e is a new PVD process in which electron emission and plasma density are systematically influenced by a controlled pulsed current. This revolutionary new technology features high-process stability and convenient operation. It has already been migrated into the latest generation of PVD production systems.

INNOVATIVE PROGRESS ILLUSTRATED BY INDEXABLE INSERTS

An important domain for the innovative P3e technology is the coating of indexable inserts for milling and turning applications. P3e makes it possible to combine coating properties that, until now, were available only with a PVD or only with a CVD process. In just one process step, the typical benefits of PVD coating—namely sharper cutting edges, no embrittlement of substrates in the coating process, and a substantially reduced risk of crest cracking—can be combined with a benefit that so far had been almost exclusively achievable with CVD: the deposition of hard, thermally and chemically stable metal oxides with good adhesion.

The deployment of the innovative P3e technology, in combination with optimized and advanced tool substrates, allows indexable inserts to achieve a substantially higher level of cutting performance, ultimately leading to increased productivity.

THE INNOVA COATING SYSTEM SETS NEW STANDARDS

The INNOVA coating system developed by Oerlikon Balzers Coating, based on the successful RCS platform, defines a new benchmark. Equipped with P3e technology, the system can be used to apply not only all available BALINIT high-per formance nitride coatings, but also the latest hard metaloxide coatings, as well as a wide variety of other metal oxides with outstanding, highly reproducible quality. A number of technical innovations make the system a leader in moder n, costeffective coating production. The new INNOVA etching technology, pulsed coating processes, and higher process pressure levels will support further progress in the development of nitride coatings, while P3e capabilities enable the deposition of high-quality metaloxide coatings. Thanks to its modular concept, the INNOVA system offers all options that are needed to customize processes and to accommodate future developments.