What is a thin film?
A thin film is a coating that covers the surface of an object. The thin film thickness is generally in the order of microns or even nanometers. The coating can be made of a single pure element (i.e. gold) or could be made of an alloy of many elements. A coating is often deposited as a multilayered structure where each layer has a different composition and function. Different coatings exhibit different properties and performance depending on the environment. Plasmakote will help you identify the ideal one for your applications.
Why apply a thin film?
A thin film is used to change the surface properties of an object when it would be too expensive or technically impossible to make the object completely with a material that already had those properties. There are many reasons why you might want to change the properties of the surface of your product. For example you might want to: protect your parts from corrosion, reduce wear, make it easier to clean, make it look nicer, make it biocompatible, foodsafe and self-disinfectant. In short: Performance, Protection, Beauty.
How is the film applied?
To deposit a thin film atoms need to "fly" off from a source and pile up onto the surface of your product. This is made possible by the generation of a plasma and electromagnetic fields inside a high vacuum chamber. There are many different techniques used to make atoms "fly" depending on the desired final characteristics of the coatings. Plasmakote can offer a wide range techniques with the potential to deposit almost any coating composition on a broad list of substrate materials and shapes.
Michele Gimona
Director of Plasmakote
Materials Engineer specialised in coatings and surface treatments
Fabrizio Pitacco
General Manager of Protec
Team Protec
highly skilled and qualified engineers and operators
Protec Surface Technologies has been designing and manufacturing PVD and PECVD coating equipment for both decorative and technical applications for over 20 years. It was first established in a small town on the Garda lake in Italy to respond to the booming need of long lasting aesthetic coatings. Since then it quickly expanded to have presence in all five continents. Protec is heavily invested in R&D and can and will always offer cutting edge proprietary technologies that add value and differentiate their customer's products.
Protec's ultimate goal is to provide complete customised process solutions to meet the continuously changing industrial coating challenges. Protec prides itself on providing a superior customer experience that includes the development of personalised coating processes, training, on site and remote assistance and ongoing quality control. Protec's systems are equipped with top quality components from prime suppliers to offer reliable and environmentally friendly solutions that require minimal maintenance and downtime.
Plasmakote started as a consultancy company in 2017 providing surface science and engineering recommendations. Plasmakote's vision is to supply the Australian market with high quality PVD and PECVD coatings to replace outdated and polluting processes like electroplating and solvent-based coatings. Plasmakote is Protec's stratigic partner and sole official distributor in Australia. Using Protec's technology, Plasmakote offers coating services for R&D and small to medium volume production batches. Being local, Plasmakote can more efficiently help you define your surface engineering needs and find a solution that meets the demanding Australian market requirements.