Prof. Jes Asmussen and Dr. Thomas Schuelke lead a group of experienced Fraunhofer researchers and German students in collaboration with faculty members and students of the Michigan State University. The team works in the following research areas:

• technologies involving amorphous diamond-like carbon coatings,
• chemical vapor deposition of ultranano-, poly- and single crystalline diamond materials,
• doping of diamond materials,
• physical vapor deposition technologies.

Coatings for the tool manufacturing and automotive industry

The amorphous diamond-like carbon coating research program utilizes the Laserarc® process, which was developed at the IWS Dresden. For several years CCL engineers have been applying this technology to coat tools for the ma chining and processing of aluminum materials. The amorphous diamond-like carbon coating significantly improves the lifetime of these tools. The Coating Technology Division collaborates closely with Michigan State University’s Formula Racing Team. High performance wear resistant coatings are tested on various racecar components under race conditions. The collaboration provides the racing team with a competitive advantage and also returns critical information to CCL engineers for improving coating performance.

Synthesis of diamond

In recent years the Coating Technology Division have focused on research in the area of microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition of diamond materials and in particular on the synthesis of doped and undoped single crystalline diamond. Here the team established an international reputation.