Revista de Investigación de Física 23(2), (Jul-Dic 2020) eISSN:1728-2977

The Hidden Potentiality of Coatings

From university lab to Peruvian industry

J.C. González*1,2, Melchor Llosa3 and Alexander Peña2

1 Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla � CSIC, Grupo de Investigación de Super�cies, Intercaras yLáminas Delgadas. Calle Américo Vespucio 49, Isla de la Cartuja. Sevilla 41092� España

2Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC), Laboratorio de Física de Materiales e Ingeniería deSuper�cies. Jr. Medrano Silva 165, Barranco 15063, Perú

3Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Facultad de Ciencias Físicas. Ciudad Universitaria, Av.Venezuela s/n, Cercado de Lima 15081, Perú

Recibido 01 mayo 2020 � Aceptado 17 junio 2020

AbstractNowadays the growth of technological materials in the form of thin �lms, layers, or coatings, stillremains like one of the topics of greatest vitality, in both the scienti�c and technological environment.These technological materials already are in various applications of the di�erent products that we useon our daily basis. However, how technology on coatings can help the country's productive sector?.We brie�y describe this hidden potential of coatings through this communication to help close thegap between the knowledge production in the academy and the work tools that the Peruvian industrysector needs to improve the quality of its �nal products.

Keywords: Magnetron Sputtering, Thin �lms, Layers, Coatings.

La Potencialidad Oculta de los Recubrimientos

Del laboratorio universitario a la industria peruana

ResumenHoy en día, el crecimiento de materiales tecnológicos en forma de películas delgadas, capas o re-cubrimientos, sigue siendo uno de los temas de mayor vitalidad, tanto en el entorno cientí�co comotecnológico. Estos materiales tecnológicos ya se encuentran en diversas aplicaciones de los diferentesproductos que utilizamos a diario. Sin embargo, ¾cómo la tecnología en recubrimientos puede ayudaral sector productivo del país? Describimos brevemente este potencial oculto de los recubrimientos através de esta comunicación para ayudar a cerrar la brecha entre la producción de conocimiento enla academia y las herramientas de trabajo que el sector industrial peruano necesita para mejorar lacalidad de sus productos �nales.

Palabras clave: Pulverización Catódica, Películas Delgadas, Capas, Recubrimientos.

Peru is a country characterized by having a vast ter-ritory with colossal natural resources, as well as enor-mous human potential, becoming a country with multi-ple possibilities and opportunities in the region of SouthAmerica. On one hand, the most successful Peruviancompanies and industries, in the last almost �fty years,have ceased to be those dedicated to the production

and distribution of commodities whereby the center ofthe Peruvian economy has been shifting towards knowl-edge production and distribution activities. On the otherhand, one of these centers of knowledge production arethe Peruvian universities, which nowadays have variousresearch laboratories where now we can begin to solve theinnovation problems that the Peruvian industry has to

*juanc.gonzalez@icmse.csic.es

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Rev. Inv. Fis. 23(2), (2020) 33

improve its products and make them more competitives.Currently, in the �eld of growth of thin �lms, lay-

ers or coatings of new materials, it remains one of themost vital issues, both in the scienti�c and technologi-cal environments [Bra15], [Bra14]. Its applications arevery diverse (�gure 1), ranging from the production ofmultilayers for microelectronics, photonics and optoelec-tronics, passing through the preparation of layers withmagnetic or superconducting properties, as well as goingthrough the protection of mechanical parts or coatingsfor prostheses for medical use [Haw14], this last area ofindustrial production is a niche to be exploited by thePeruvian sputtering laboratories.

Figure 1: Examples of sputtering coatings: (a) and (b) de-

vices with an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display,

(c) anti-re�ective coatings, (d) laser optics (e) ITO coated

glass (Indium Tin Oxide), (f) decorative oxide coatings (h)

drill tips coated with TiN, (i) drill bit coated with DLC

(Diamond-like-Carbon), (j) solar thermal absorber of Ti-O-

N (Adapted from reference [Mar13]).

One of the coating techniques is the magnetron sput-tering technique. For almost �fty years the growth ofthin layers by magnetron sputtering technique has dom-inated many industries in the USA and Europe, expand-ing through Asia and Latin America, while technologi-cal evolution, in practice, has brought other physical orchemical techniques for the deposition of such coatings.However, it is then due to the push of digital technology,among semiconductor, optical and magnetic, one of theengines that gave a greater impetus to the developmentand establishment of the sputtering technique in the lastquarter of the 20th century. In addition, many otherareas and applications found in this technology the ben-e�ts that have made great technological advances pos-sible. Currently we can see everyday objects in whichsputtering is part of its manufacturing or functionaliza-tion process (�gure 1). Such objects can be seen from

your home kitchen until to the International Space Sta-tion, from the stained glass windows of iconic buildingsto cell phones and tablets.For thin �lm, layer or coating deposition onto substrate(or material surface) by magnetron sputtering technique,it is necessary to ignite argon plasma inside a vacuumchamber by applying a potential di�erence between twoelectrodes, which consists of several hundreds of volts.This plasma consists of pure argon, containing positivelycharged argon particles (argon ions) and free electrons,then the electric �eld generated between the two elec-trodes by the potential di�erence accelerates the posi-tively charged argon ions towards the negatively chargedcathode (the cathode is the solid material that you wantto deposit). Argon ions bombard the surface with enoughforce to dislodge and eject atoms from the blank (sur-face of solid material). Sputtered material from the solidsurface is deposited as a thin �lm or layer onto the sub-strate (�gure 2). The high kinetic energy of the ejectedparticles leads to the deposition of thin �lms or layerswith high adhesion. In other words, in a similar wayto a billiard game, argon ions displace atoms from thecathode surface by sputtering from the surface of solidmaterial. In this way, the solid material is slowly erodedand the released atoms are transferred through the vac-uum chamber to the substrate on the other side, wherethey are deposited as a thin �lm, layer or coating, similarto what happens with a bathroom mirror that is coveredby water vapor when the shower is running.

Figure 2: Description of sputtering technique to coat di�er-

ent substrates such as: metal, glass, alloys, fabric, or synthetic

leather (Adapted from reference [Far03]).

One of the great advantages of the sputtering pro-cesses that can be exploited by the Peruvian industry.This technique allows the deposition of materials such asmetals, alloys, ceramics, and even polymers on a widerange of substrates. There is a great need to develop

34 Rev. Inv. Fis. 23(2), (2020)

thin �lms, layers, and coatings in the Peruvian indus-try, in order to coat work and cutting tools, gears, win-dows, and mirrors with high pro�tability that show supe-rior performance in severe or extreme environments likethose existing in our Peruvian reality, such as high orlow temperature, oxidation and corrosion, together withhigh hardness, good wear resistance, greater resistanceand greater coating thickness.Abroad, the sputtering technique has developed until tothe point where it has become the process of choice forthe deposition of a wide range of thin �lms, layers, orcoatings of industrial importance. The driving force hasbeen increasing demand for high-quality functional thin�lms, layers, or coatings in many market sectors. How-ever, returning to the Peruvian reality, there are notenough university laboratories with the sputtering tech-nique to grow thin �lms, layers, or coatings. In spite ofthat, the few existing labs have mature knowledge of thisgrowth technique on basis of the work done in academicpublications, thesis, and training of highly quali�ed hu-man resources, which allows them, in principle, to be ableto advise to Peruvian industry on its need to develop thin�lms, layers or coatings for its products or tools.Nevertheless, there is still a gap between the Peruvianindustrial sector demand and knowledge supply from theuniversity laboratories, but exceptional circumstancesexist. As a result of this fact, technological backwardnessand lack of the required quality of the industry's productappear. At this step, it should also be mentioned thatthe Peruvian state has taken important steps to close

this gap in the last years; although, it is still necessaryto have more approaches and meeting platforms. How-ever, it must be clear that knowledge production at theuniversity and its e�ective transfer to the Peruvian in-dustry will increasingly be the predominant factor thatwill establish the di�erence in the competitive positionof a country's industry.Finally, we would like to remark that the Peruvian indus-try should not think that sputtering is a very complexand expensive technology, but rather a technology to in-vest in, but it is unquestionable that foreign industrieshave bene�ted greatly from the vast developments andinnovations in all �elds related to the sputtering pro-cess and the growth of thin layers over the past �ftyyears. Then, it is evident that the sputtering process isa reliable technology, highly developed and industriallyproven, therefore, why not we establish and expand thistechnology to the Peruvian industry?

Acknowlegments

All the authors deeply thanks to three agencies: BritishCouncil (UK), CONCYTEC FONDECYT (Peru) andConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientí�cas (Spain)whom funded the research projects: Nanostructured

magnetic thin �lms of functional oxide for developing of

electronic devices based on spintronic; and Crecimiento

de nanoestructuras columnares mediante la técnica de

magnetron sputtering con aplicaciones tecnológicas; andPlanar photonic structures for development of opto�u-

idics sensors and harnessing of solar energy, respectively.

References

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nique in Handbook of Manufacturing Engineering

and Technology (Nee A. Ed.). London: Springer.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4670-4_

28

[Bra14] Bräuer, G. (2014). Magnetron Sputtering in

Films and coatings: technology and recent develop-

ments Vol. 4, Comprehensive Materials Processing

(Saleem Hashmi, Gilmar Ferreira Batalha BekirYilbas Editors), pages 57-73. Amsterdam: Elsevier.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-096532-1.

00403-9

[Far03] Farotex (2020) Technology: A brief explanationof how magnetron sputtering works, web: https:

//farotex.com/technology.html

[Haw14] Hawkeye, M., Taschuk, M., Brett, M. (2014).Glancing Angle Deposition of Thin Films: Engi-

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and Optoelectronic Applications. London: John Wi-ley and Sons, Ltd.

[Mar13] Martynas (2013) Basic Concepts of ReactiveSputtering, web: http://reactive-sputtering.

info/node/99