Plasma nitriding in combination with PVD/RACVD coatings (Duplex Technology) offers many advantages compared to coatings alone. By changing the surface hardness and chemistry through nitriding, the adhesion and tribological properties of the coating can be greatly improved. Although many companies have integrated both technologies into industrial equipment in the past, it has never made it to mass production due to process cycle times and temperatures. A new type of system which uses hollow cathode technology in order to plasma nitride/carburize then coat the surface with DLC has been developed which overcomes the traditional difficulties of duplex technology. Typical nitriding cycle times are on the order of 15-30 minutes and DLC deposition rates range from 0.1-1 μm/minute. Stainless, alloy and plain carbon steels can be nitrided as well as Ti alloys. Nitriding depths can be varied as well as the properties of the DLC coatings. In addition to nitriding and DLC coating, metal and metal nitride layers (titanium and TiN) can be produced from the gas phase. Typical door to door cycle times for such processes range from 45 to 90 minutes.
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