Low Friction Coating for Medical Devices
The low friction is a newly developed coating within the DLC coating family. The coating is hydrogen-free and therefore well suited for e.g. titanium implants and fastening of other devices. The coating has successfully been applied to screws and other joining elements, assuring low-friction as well as a high and reproducible tightening torque. The coating provides anti-galling properties (metal-metal fusing) in cases where the parts have to be separated again. The coating works well under both wet and dry conditions.
This low friction coating is applied by magnetron sputtering PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) processes. The coating is made as a functionally graded multilayer structure with a binding layer of chromium nitride, which passes through a gradual and well controlled intermixing layer, before it transforms into an amorphous carbon top layer.