Thin Film Laboratory

The Center of Manufacturing Research's thin films lab has a wide variety of capabilities including: plating, annealing/heat treating, pack cementation, sample preparation, and arc melting.   Presently, much of the research involves the application of diffusion coatings on Nickel-Based and Iron-Based superalloys. Fortunately, with all the capabilities of the lab, most of the lab work can be completed in house instead of relying on outside help.  Part of the research involves plating the superalloys with very specific thicknesses of platinum and then through various annealing processes, diffusing the platinum into the sample. Diffusion coatings can then be applied by the pack cementation process to enhance the characteristics of the bond coat of a Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) system.   With the arc melting equipment custom alloys can be created on a small scale much cheaper than using an industrial supplier.