Thin

film

s deposi

tion

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The environment friendly vacuum deposition

technologies enable various nature of substrates to

be coated (metals, ceramics, polymers, glass) with

layers over a wide range of compositions. The

components could be treated at

low temperature (as low as 50°C),

without surface finishing.

The PEMS™ technology, devel-

oped by HEF™ Groupe offers an

optimization of the coatings

properties in a large field of

applications, such as mechanical, tooling,

decorative, optical, electromagnetic shielding…

A W I D E R A N G E O F T H I N F I L M S

EXAMPLES OF VARIOUS FIELDS OF

APPLICATIONS :1. MECHANICAL,2. DECORATION,3. ELECTROMAGNETIC,4. TOOLING,5. OPTICAL.

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The thin films bring to the surface of parts and

components multiple properties :

Low friction coefficient :

• Self-lubricating layers.

Wear resistance :

• Abrasion ;

• Erosion ;

• Adhesion.

Cosmetics :

• Metallic aspect on polymers, glasses ;

• Hard films on metals, glasses.

Optical properties :

• Non reflecting ;

• Filter ;

• Reflector.

Electrical properties :

• Conductivity ;

• Electromagnetic shielding.

P R O P E R T I E S O F C O M P O N E N T S T R E AT E D W I T H H E F ™ G R O U P E T H I N F I L M S

1. PLASMA

2. COATING EQUIPMENT IN CLEAN ROOM

3. THIN FILM CROSS SECTION MICROGRAPH

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The PEMS™ (Plasma Enhanced Magnetron

Sputtering) technology developed and patented by

HEF™ Groupe produce high quality coatings.

The PEMS™ technology allows several benefits :

• Combination of the advantages of magnetron

sputtering (consistent and accurate composition of

the layers, wide range of composition achievable,

absence of surface defects on the coatings…) and

high ionization to produce coatings with maximum

density.

• Operations :

- in PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) mode,

- in hybrid PAVCD (Plasma Assisted Chemical

Vapor Deposition) / PVD mode,

- in plasma treatment mode for duplex coatings

(example : plasma nitriding followed by hard

coating deposition).

• Independent adjustment of the ion flow and

energy, which ensures optimization of process

parameters whatever the nature of the hard

coating.

• An efficient homogeneous etching of the parts

while sputter cleaning the targets, in order to

create a good adhesion and an accurate compo-

sition of the layers.

P E M S ™ : A F L E X I B L E T E C H N O L O G Y

1. COMPONENTS IN A PLASMA SOURCE

2. DUPLEX COATING CROSS SECTION

MICROGRAPH (ION NITRIDING + Cr N)

OPTIMIZATION OF THE DENSITY OF A TiN FILM BY INDEPENDENT

ADJUSTMENT OF THE PROCESS PARAMETERS (ION FLOW AND ION

ENERGY).

CO

ATI

NG

DE

NS

ITY

(AR

BIT

RA

RY

UN

ITS)

ION FLOW(ARBITRARY UNITS) ION ENERGY

(ARBITRARY UNITS)

Mechanical applications

HEF™ Groupe tradename CERTESS™ covers low

friction and wear protection coatings. These

coatings are developed to meet the requirements

of customers who design precision components

subjected to friction and wear. These tribological

coatings properties have been optimized by

assessing their behaviour on the Tribology

Department test rigs. This department belongs to

the research center of HEF™ Groupe.

HEF™ Groupe has developed a series of coatings that covers all applica-

tions of thin films : friction and wear reduction applications on compo-

nents, tool lifetime enhancement, electromagnetic shielding on polymers,

decorative and optical purpose on polymers and glass, corrosion

resistance on aluminum alloy.

HEF™ R&D, research center of HEF™ Groupe, also

develops custom-made coatings for specific require-

ments.

A C O M P L E T E S E R I E S O F C O A T I N G S

DECORATIVE REFLECTIVITY CORROSION COLOR

(ACCORDING RESISTANCE

TO WAVELENGTH)

ALUMINUM ASPECT ••• ••• Aluminum

NICKEL CHROME ASPECT •• ••• Nickel

GOLD ASPECT • ••• Gold

Electrical applications

Decorative applications

ELECTROMAGNETIC ADHESION CORROSION COLORSHIELDING ON POLYMER RESISTANCE

PROCEM™ 1 •••• •••• •• Silver

PROCEM™ 2 •••• •••• ••• Nickel

COMPARISON OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE VARIOUS DECORATIVE LAYERS

Optical applicationsOPTICAL REFLECTIVITY COLOUR

(ACCORDING TO WAVELENGTH)

COPPER BASED ••• Silver

ALUMINUM BASED •• Aluminum

GOLD BASED • Gold

COMPARISON OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE VARIOUS OPTICAL LAYERS

COMPARISON OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE VARIOUS PROCEM™ LAYERS

COMPARISON OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE VARIOUS CERTESS™ LAYERS

CERTESS™ HARDNESS FRICTION OXIDATION COLORRESISTANCE

CERTESS™ X •• •• •• Steel

CERTESS™ N • • ••• Steel

CERTESS™ TiN •• • •• Gold

CERTESS™ SD •••• •• ••• Champagne

CERTESS™ TiCN ••• • •• Blue gray

CERTESS™ TiAlN •• • •••• Mauve

CERTESS™ DLC • •••• • Black

Components parts :

• Automotive : piston, piston ring, piston wrist

pin, rocker arm, tappet, injector ;

• Hydraulic : slide valve, ball valve ;

• Medical (prostheses, tools), textiles (thread

guide) ;

• Miscellaneous : pulleys, ball bearings, gears,

axles…

• Precision parts.

Tools :

• Stamping, punching, dies ;

• Abrasive material cutting ;

• Moulding, polymers injection ;

• Machining (milling, turning, tapping,

drilling…).

Decorative, optical and electrical :

• Trim components ;

• Bottles coatings ;

• Logos ;

• Reflectors ;

• Antennas ;

• Circuit breakers contacts.

T H I N F I L M S A P P L I C A T I O N S

CERTESS™ SDULTRA HARD NANOCRYSTALLINE LAYERS

ON TOOLS

CERTESS™ TiNFUNCTIONAL HARD DEPOSITS

OPTICAL

COATINGS WITH REFLECTIVE PROPERTIES

OR ATTENUATION

ELECTRICAL

CONDUCTIVE COATINGS FOR THE SHIELDING

OF POLYMERS AND COMPOSITE MATERIALS

FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY

DECORATION

DECORATIVE COATINGS ON GLASS SUPPORT

EQUIPMENT OF 2 M OF DIAMETER AND 2 M

HEIGHT FOR THE PROCESSING

OF LARGE PARTS OR GREAT SERIES

CERTESS™ DLC : SELF-LUBRICATING HARD LAYERS

ON COMPONENTS AND TOOLS

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Specific developments to meet your

specialized technical need :

Thanks to continuous innovation, renewal of

coatings and equipment research, HEF™ Groupe

offers you the best solution for your project.

In order to optimize the thin film for your

particular application, HEF™ Groupe research

center could generate specific developments.

Customized deposition systems can also be

designed and manufactured thanks to its

expertise and flexibility.

Customized access to the technology :

HEF™ Groupe is able to adapt their technology

offer and their technology transfer to the

customer’s need, as following :

• through their production units, TECHNIQUES

SURFACES, present all over the world (and

specially close to major customers),

• through their world wide Joint – Venture

network,

• through their own international l icensees

network,

• by integration of our technology on your

production site : technology transfer, technical

assistance, sale of equipment and consumables

HEF™ Groupe offers a large choice of techno-

logical transfers with the best customer’s service

in terms of quality, price, and delivery time.

An international quality policy :

HEF™ Groupe ensures to their customers that all

the treatments will be handled with the most

recent quality systems.

The procedure covers the monitoring and

control, from the inspection of incoming material

to their cleaning, processing, inspection and

shipment.

Production units such as, TECHNIQUES

SURFACES which are ISO 9002 certified,

enforce the quality policy. The licensees and

partners also comply with the quality standards

set by HEF™ Groupe.

H E F ™ G R O U P E : S E R V I C E S S U P P L I E R

1. TSD2200 COATING UNIT

2. CONTROL OF TREATED COMPONENTS

3. ASSEMBLY HALL FOR THE COATING UNITS

4. TSD900 COATING UNIT

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HEF™ Groupe technologies are also available

through licensing. 350 licenses have been granted

by HEF™ Groupe in 30 countries, on different

patents.

Licensing covers technological transfer, equipment

and consumables supplying, staff training.

This technological transfer ensures the technical

assistance to partners companies for the resolution

of specific problems, continuous process

improvement through the introduction of the latest

technology developments.

Within HEF™ Groupe, TECMACHINE is the company

in charge of development and manufacturing of

HEF™ Groupe vacuum coating equipment. The

equipment range covers R&D systems to units

designed for large volume industrial production. All

units are equipped with State-of-The-Art systems for

pumping, process monitoring and control, safety.

• PEMS™ technology ;

• PVD, PACVD and hybrid PACVD/PVD modes in

standard ;

• Low pressure, low bias voltage arcless etching

for efficient and homogeneous substrate

cleaning ;

• OES (Optical Emission Spectroscopy) for

reactive gas flow control ;

• Independent control of ions flow and ions

energy for coatings properties optimization ;

• Multi-chamber multiplexing option ;

• Quick change magnetron sources ;

• Computer controlled and user-friendly

operations ;

• Batch processing parameters reports ;

• High performance and reliability pumping

systems ;

• Modem connection for remote maintenance.

These equipment have been validated through

several industrial operations years in our production

sites and in our partners.

L I C E N S I N G O F V A C U U M T R E A T M E N T S

1. CATHODE

2. TSD800 COATING UNIT

3. CONTROL MONITOR

4. COMPONENTS IN A PLASMA SOURCE

5. TSD350 COATING UNIT

6. TSD400 COATING UNIT

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E Q U I P M E N T O F V A C U U M C O A T I N G S

HEF™ Groupe latest developments rely upon its

research center.

HEF™ R&D center is one of the leading European

research centers, with more than 80 international

patents in the field of Surface Engineering. Their

team of 40 researcher has been involved in

20 European research projects (EUREKA, BRITE-

EURAM) and 7 on-going programs.

It has its own facilities for coatings and process

development, as well as friction and wear

assessment through its Tribology Department.

For constant renewal, this research center seeks

innovations for advanced processes, better

controlled treatment parameters and optimization of

material surface properties.

And specially in the following directions,

• Study of the influence of the chemical composition

of nanocrystalline TiBN coatings deposited by

reactive cathodic magnetron sputtering.

• Study of the morphology of PVD coatings as a

function of ion bombardment parameters applied

during growth.

• Study of control of chemical composition of

coatings deposited in reactive mode through

plasma optical emission.

R E S E A R C H I N H E F ™ G R O U P E

1. ANALYSIS LABORATORY

2. LABORATORY PROCESSING LINE

I N T E R N A T I O N A L I M P L A N TA T I O N

FRANCEHeadquarters :Rue Benoit Fourneyron42160 Andrézieux-Bouthéon cedexTél. (33) (0) 4 77 55 52 22Fax (33) (0) 4 77 55 52 00e-mail : hef@hef.frSite Web : www.hef.fr

ALLEMAGNETECHNIQUES SURFACES Kernen/Stuttgart GmbHTulpenstraße 5271394 Kernen-RommelshausenTél. (49) (0) 7151 42013Fax (49) (0) 7151 48244e-mail : b.grellet@attglobal.net

ESPAGNETECNICAS DE SUPERFICIESCatalunya SLCtra Nacional 152, Km 24,2POL. IND. ELS XOPS, C/BATZACS NAVE 708185 LLICA DE VALL (BARCELONA)Tél. (34) 93 849 92 00Fax (34) 93 849 62 23e-mail : tsc@sct.ictnet.es

ITALIETECHNIQUES SURFACES ItaliaVia Tanaro N°1920010 Villastanza di Parabiago (Mi)Tél. (39) 0 331 / 55 59 00 / 55 51 84Fax (39) 0 331 / 55 71 70e-mail : tsi@betanet.it

ROYAUME UNITECHNIQUES SURFACES United KingdomWood Lane, ErdingtonBirmingham B24 9QLTél. (44) 121 382 80 60Fax (44) 121 377 89 28e-mail : techniques@cyberphile.co.uk

USAHEF USA2860 Fisher RoadColumbus, Ohio 43204Tél. (1) 614 276 04 01Fax (1) 614 276 63 77e-mail : hef@coil.com

BRESILHEF Do BrasilEstrada do Rufino 1182Serraria - CEP 09980-380Diadema - Sao PauloTél. (55) 11 4056 44 33Fax (55) 11 4056 25 02e-mail : hef@langnet.com.br

CANADASURFACE METALLURGICAL Inc.295 Arvin AvenueStoney Creek, On.L8E 2M3Tel. (1) 905 664 1996Fax. (1) 905 662 2907e-mail: John@surfacemetal.com

MEXIQUEETSAFundidores N°18, Z.I.Xhala Cuautitlan IzcaliEstado de Mexico 54800 - MexicoTél. (52) 5 872 85 20/870 2255Fax (52) 5 872 0255e-mail :mariofabian@especialidadestermicas.com

CHINEHEF Shanghai629 Lingling RoadAihe building 2CXuhui DistrictShanghai 200030Tél. (86) (0) 21 64 87 43 90Fax (86) (0) 21 34 24 04 32e-mail : Fabprost@yahoo.com

INDEHEF India3/5 Pattammal Street MandaveliCHENNAI 60028Tél. (91) 44 49 36 647Fax (91) 44 49 51 389e-mail : hefipl@eth.net

JAPONTECHNIQUES SURFACES Nanocoat Corp.542-1, Tatsunokuchi, Tatsunokuchi - machi,Nomi-gun,Ishikawa-ken 923-1245Tél. 0761 52 0575Fax 0761 52 0576e-mail : gaucher@nanocoat-ts.com

HONGRIEHTS LtdCsokako u. 27H-1164 BUDAPESTTél. (36-1) 400 2689Fax (36-1) 400 0454e-mail : htvhorszt@matavnet.hu

MALAISIELORD TECHNIQUES SURFACES (M) SDN BhdLot. 8326 Jalan 222 - Section 51A46100 PETALING JAYASELANGORTél. 00 603 757 8557Fax 00 603 757 2751e-mail : shruthi@pd.jaring.ny

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HEADQUARTERS :Rue Benoit-Fourneyron / Z.I. SUD - 42160 Andrézieux-Bouthéon - France

Phone + 33 (0) 4 77 55 52 22 - Fax + 33 (0) 4 77 55 52 00

e-mail : hef@hef.fr - Website : www.hef.fr

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