The J. Stefan Institute home page is located at http://ijs.muzej.si/

Thin Films and Surfaces Department (F3)

Head: Prof. Dr. Boris Navin"sek
Research staff: 4

The Thin Films and Surfaces Department is situated in two locations:

research activities on location Ljubljana, Jamova 39
Hard Coating Centre on location Dom"zale, Ljubljanska 80/I

The main subjects of our basic and applied research:

ion and plasma interactions with solid surfaces,
praparation and characterization of new hard, wear-, oxidation- and corrosion-resistant films and coatings,
development, production and characterization (including Standard Reference Material Certificate) of standards in form of multilayer structures for depth profile analysis and studies of interface interactions,
applications and new technologies in the field of protective metallurgical coatings for industry (tools, machine parts).

The following techniques are used:

ion plating reactive deposition (BAI 730 and BAI 730 M, Balzers A.G., Liechtenstein) and sputtering of thin films and coatings (SPUTRON DC/RF, Balzers A.G., Liechtenstein),
scanning electron microscopy + EDS analysis,
transmission electron microscopy + EDS analysis,
Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES),
electrochemical measurements (corrosion tests),
hardness and microhardness measurements,
X-ray photo electron spectroscopy,
analytical techniques,
depth profile analyses of multilayered structures,
in-situ continous electrical resistivity measurements of oxidation process,
profilometer (topography) measurements.

The Department cooperates with the following foreign institutes and universities:

Balzers Research and Development Division, FL 9496 Balzers, Liechtenstein,
Max-Planc-Institut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart, Deutschland,
Universität Düsseldorf, Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, Deutschland,
Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institut für Oberflächentechnik und Plasmatechnische Werkstoffentwicklung, Deutschland.

In 1993 we started to attend European Community COST 515 Programme ("Plasma and Ion Surface Engineering -- PISE"), in which we will study the synthesis of new wear, oxidation and corrosion resistant coatings in cooperation with twelve research Institutions from EC countries.

IMAGE: Oxidation of protective and hard coatings
[diagram of weight gain against oxidation time]

Mass gain of 3E-6 m thick chromium-based coatings (chromium, CrN) and nickel-based protective coatings (NiCr 80-20 and Inconel 600) on sapphire substrates induced by long-term oxidation in an oxygen flow as a function of oxidation time.

Research projects financed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (titles in Slovene language)

Contact: Professor Dr. Boris Navin"sek, Head
Thin Films and Surfaces Department