Protective Coatings

DLC & PVD coatings for the optics industry

Problem

One of the biggest challenges in optics production is build-up and deposits on molds, embossing tools and rollers that occur during the processing of plastics. They cause wear and damage to the tool surfaces, which reduces precision and attention to detail. This results in a loss of quality, dimensional deviations and increased costs due to frequent cleaning, reworking and tool changes.

Solution

With its laser-based PVD coating technology, ANTACON offers a high-precision solution for the requirements of optical manufacturing. The extremely smooth and hard surface permanently protects even the finest structures from wear and deformation. Their pronounced non-stick effect prevents material build-up on molds, embossing tools and rollers and ensures consistently high replication quality over many cycles. Thanks to the high chemical and process resistance, tools remain in use for longer and are much easier to clean for maximum service life, stable processes and maximum efficiency in optical production.

Advantages of DLC and PVD coatings

  • Up to 5 times longer service life for highly stressed components

  • Significantly reduced adhesion due to ta-C coating (layer thickness from a few 10 nm to a few 100 nm)

  • Corrosion & abrasion resistance for extreme operating conditions without coating flaking

  • Precisely adjustable coating thickness down to a few nanometers

  • Ideal for series production
    (from batch size 1 to medium series)

HIGH-END
PROTECTION
without compromise

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Applications in the optics industry

Protection of molds, embossing tools and rollers as well as production components

Non-stick surfaces – DLC coatings protect rollers, molds and embossing tools from wear and deposits

    these challenges

    Can we solve

    Sophisticated optics and micro-optics require absolutely flawless tool surfaces during manufacture. Even the smallest defects have a direct impact on optical quality and significantly increase the reject rate.

    • Wear and tear

      abrasive wear, adhesive wear, wear-intensive

    • Adhesion of material

      Wear of the tool surface, loss of detail, material build-up, deposits on molds, adhesions, contour wear

    • Loss of dimensional accuracy

      Loss of attention to detail, tool dimensional accuracy, loss of quality

    • High operating costs

      Maintenance-intensive, cost-intensive, inefficient