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Using nanoscale-based synthetic design strategies, ATFI
has developed several innovative thin film materials. Processing methods
are scalable, environmentally safe and include solution-based, PVD
(sputtering), CVD, and plasma spray deposition. Several US patents have
been issued and many applications, including PCTs, have been filed. ATFI intends to
commercialize these products through strategic partnerships/licensing
and generate revenue through sale of raw materials, know-how, and
expertise. Over $5M in R&D funds received from our sponsors including
MDA, AFOSR, NSF, Army, NASA, and DOE has enabled the development of
these technologies. A brief description of each of the four platform
technologies is given below. |
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Cerablak™ Technology |
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ECONO™ Process |
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A low-cost
solution-based process (dip/spray/brush/flow) that yields a thin (50 nm
- 1 µm), hermetic oxide film (aluminum
 phosphate compositions), stable
above 1400°C, with excellent adhesion on metal, glass, and ceramic
substrates. A recently-released Frost & Sullivan advanced materials
report listed Cerablak™ as the first among the top ten new advanced
materials in the market. With the commercial attributes of a disruptive
technology, it promises new surface modification strategies across broad
industrial segments and will enable quantum improvements in performance
or life extension of critical components at an affordable price.
Patents: US6036762 & US6461415 |
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Oxide epitaxial templates are being sought
for numerous microelectronic, optical, and superconductor device
applications. Using an innovative method termed “Epitaxial Conversion to
Oxide via Nitride Oxidation”, ATFI has
 developed high-quality YSZ
epitaxial layers on metal, alloy, and silicon substrates. An epitaxial
yttrium zirconium nitride (YZN) is deposited using high rate reactive
sputtering and converted to epitaxial YSZ by thermal treatment in
oxidizing environment (in-situ and ex-situ). This unique process offers
high quality films and significantly reduces the cost by eliminating
deposition of additional layers, thus enabling a scalable manufacturing
technique. The current focus is on developing a suitable buffer layer
for next-generation superconductor wires (HTS coated conductors). A
non-exclusive license has been executed with a leading manufacturer of
HTS wires.
Patent: US6645639 |
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Nano-engineered Thermal
Barrier Coatings |
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Conformal Alumina Films by CVD |
Conventional yttria-stabilized
zirconia (YSZ)-based TBCs used in gas turbines for thermal protection do
not offer adequate durability and
 are prone to cracking and spallation
due to stresses induced by sintering, phase transformation, and thermal
cycling. New material design strategies are required to overcome this
longstanding problem. ATFI has developed a new TBC material based on
layered perovskite compositions (BaNd2Ti3O10) that offers extremely low
thermal conductivity (0.7 W/mK above 1300°C) combined with excellent
strain tolerance and tailorable CTE to match substrates. Extensive
crystalline disorder at the atomic scale and compliant atomic layers
offer these unique benefits. Dense and thermally stable coatings have
been developed using atmospheric plasma spray process. |
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With increasing demand for miniaturization
and evolution of MEMS devices, new surface modification treatments are
needed to provide hermetic protection for underlying metals and
ceramics. Depositing thermally stable and robust ceramic films is a
challenge due to the complex-geometry at the micro- or nano-scale
requiring processes with high infiltration efficiencies. ATFI’s
proprietary CVD process offers deposition of smooth, hermetic, and
 uniform alumina (amorphous) films with excellent infiltration
efficiencies at relatively high rates. Benefits include high throughput,
relatively low capital cost, and little or no exhaust treatment.
Hundreds of metering valves for a medical application were coated in one
run with excellent uniformity and consistency. |
Home > Technology Overview
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Applied Thin Films, Inc.
