APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- Ultra-high vacuum
- Coatings on accelerator components
ADVANTAGES:
- Enables deposition on the inside of tubes 6 mm in diameter, and smaller
- Enables deposition on the inside of hollow, curved components
- In-situ coating and activation
ABSTRACT:
While high-aspect ratio and/or curved tubing is important for improving accelerator performance, those features make it difficult to apply non-evaporative getters (NEGs), typically an alloy of Ti, V, and Zr, for managing moisture and contaminants. Berkeley Lab researcher Andre Anders has developed a deposition technology using laser ablation that is capable of depositing NEGs, low-secondary electron emission materials, and similar coatings on the inside of high length / diameter aspect ratio (>200) and curved or twisting tubing as well as hollow components. The Berkeley Lab technology can be used in accelerators, ultra-high vacuum, and essentially any time NEGs are needed, but tubing is small in diameter, 6 mm or less.
State-of-the-art coating techniques such as sputtering have several drawbacks. Tubes that are curved about their primary axis cannot effectively be coated because the wire will touch the tube and short circuit. Effective coating becomes more and more difficult at tube diameters 10 mm and smaller. Lastly, alloy braid becomes unbraided, which shorts the deposition process by touching the interior of the tube. The new Berkeley Lab laser processing technology will be highly competitive due to its number of novel characteristics.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Proven principle for short segments.
STATUS: Published U.S. Patent Application 15/696,836 (Publication 2018/0073128). Available for licensing or collaborative research.
SEE THESE OTHER BERKELEY LAB TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS FIELD:
Gasless Magnetron Sputtering for Purer Coatings and for Space Propulsion, IB-2498
Selective Laser Ablation of Block Copolymers, 2015-100
Cost-Effective, Laser-Assisted In Situ Nanostructure Fabrication and Processing, JIB-2121