TiN coating at home
Hi everyone. So my background is a bit all over the place but looks like it'll come in handy. I did a fair amount of work on nuclear fusion and physics, everything from linear accelerators to reactors. Then a bunch of work on chemistry and am getting my degree in genetics as we speak. So with that all said what sparked my interest is the new TiN coated m31 magnets. They really are a work of art. They are however more expensive than would be feasible for what I have planned. I need a BUNCH of magnets, more than is reasonable to buy at 60 bucks a pop if you include shipping. SO as such I'm tinkering with a DIY solution to making magnets. PVD is a simple enough process, so simple in fact that the whole setup can be accomplished for less than the cost of a haworth magnet. All you need is a vacuum pump, chamber, a few magnets some pipe fittings and hoses and a few other bits here are there. The chamber can be made from a pickle jar if you feel like it but pyrex glass is ideal. The actual coating is done by a magnetron which is really just an electrode with 2 magnets in it and the metal you want to sputter on top. And for making a TiN coating the chamber is evacuated and then backfilled twice with nitrogen. As long a very very slow nitrogen flow is kept in the chamber this should produce a TiN coating on whatever you put in the way of the beam. SO I guess my question is, has anyone tried something like this other than the folks who made the m31s. And if not, I'll post some design plans for a simple cheap setup. Im going to be trying this out myself in the next month or so once the new lab is built. The only problems i can foresee is getting a nitrogen supply, the magnets getting too hot while coating and the magnets interfering with the stream of TiN being coated onto them. Thoughts?
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Of course, I should probably feel threatened or something and try to dissuade people. Ok, I'll give it a shot - one of the big reasons the m31 is going to be a tad pricey is the batch testing. In fact, cytotoxicity etc. is one of the major expenses. On one hand, I could see people ending up with issues because they can't perform these tests at home. The flip side though is you could just make a thicker layer of TiN. Like 10 passes or something if you wanted... I seriously doubt pinholing could remain after a couple of passes. Go dude. You should seriously make a tutorial. Will this method can you perform cold PVD types of applications?
The biggest issues? Fluoroscope and cell lines.