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Precision Manufacturing
ALD films can be used to give the coated object a lustrous color which, due to the films’ excellent uniformity and conformality, is even all around the object and doesn’t vary between objects or batches.
Using ALD to Improve and Protect the Surface Inside and On Valuables
Precious items we carry with us, like watches, jewelry, coins and other luxury products, need protection from moisture and humidity in the environment. Sometimes they are enhanced with a shiny surface or a tailored special color.
Companies in the global minting and luxury products industries already utilize ALD for antitarnishing, passivation, and for improving the surface mechanical properties of their products.
We offer large, automated batch production solutions to the minting and luxury products industries. Our selection of ALD systems ranges from simple air opening tools with manual operation to semi or fully automated equipment with industrial robot, linear inline robot, or vacuum load lock substrate handling systems. We offer flexible possibilities for specifically tailored factory integration based on your needs. Deposited films range from high-conformality oxide layers to shiny metals, which can be deposited on thousands of substrates per one single run. In addition, we have experience in tailoring different film colors based on customer's needs.
In the world of collector coins, optical appearance is everything, including the beautiful, ornate design and surface quality of the minting metal. We all know that when exposed to air, copper is particularly prone to natural tarnishing, which leads to unwanted changes in surface colour. Consequently, we have been protecting our copper coins by means of wet chemistry for years, which has environmental repercussions. For that reason we have always been interested in a cleaner solution. Silver is also an issue as it is sensitive to both oxidation and sulphidation. Fortunately, we came across ALD technology at a trade show and quickly realised its considerable benefits. The key advantage for us is the all-over protection of our coins in a single process step; the edge in particular has always been a difficult area to cover. Further advantages are the comparatively low process temperature, the very thin film thickness required to achieve a dense coating and, last but not least, the superior adhesion and colour fidelity on different materials.
Alfred Gnadenberger
Department Manager, Austrian Mint