Silver magic

Citation

(2003), "Silver magic", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 50 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2003.12850bad.008

Silver magic

Silver magic

Keywords: Coatings, Materials, Corrosion

Williams Advanced Materials continues to provide solutions for coating materials for a variety of markets. During the last 6 months, Williams' metallurgical and development teams have created new material chronology for the optical and wear or decorative markets.

With the rising price of gold, the optical media market has to strive to find alternative materials that meet stiff quality requirements. Gold's intrinsic physical characteristics bring stability, reflectivity and excellent corrosion resistance. Now, with the advance of new recording dies and protective lacquers, silver has become the material of choice with a 50 X cost reduction from gold material.

Similar demand has occurred in the DVD-Video market. The total worldwide DVD-Video replication is expected to be close to a billion in 2003. The production of Video Player (DVD) units is approaching 25 million. DVD is positioning itself as the next major format, and the demand for lower manufacturing cost is rapidly gaining steam.

Currently, gold (Au) and aluminum (A) are the materials for Layer 0 and Layer 1 of a DVD disc. Williams new DVD Ag alloy can replace both gold and aluminum for DVD-Video manufacturing. Williams "new" silver alloy would not only minimize cost but would allow the manufacturing of the two layers using a single DC cathode system. Our first industry standard accelerated aging and corrosion tests have been more successful than originally expected. Our next step is to find the best bonding material for silver alloys, thus ensuring compatibility and completely eliminating premature corrosion of the metallized films on each layer. Our new DVD-Video Ag alloy would perform like gold at the cost of silicon.

Similar success has occurred in the wear and decorative market. Decorative products manufacturers are quickly introducing cathodic arc and sputtering technology to their process in order to offer lifetime finish, and a new/low cost array of colors. Our Silver alloy not only has added a new color but also has demonstrated the ability to be corrosion resistive on "true silver" films. Our silver has provided the option of an attractive "new" polished or brushed finish.

In addition to offering excellent corrosion resistance, our "new" silver alloys also provide excellent film adhesion properties with optimal optical brilliance at lower layer thickness. Early results show that our "new" silver alloy coatings with no additional surface treatment or with an addition of intermediate layers.

Our leadership in materials for the coatings/thin film industry continues to benefit our partners and customers worldwide. We create and produce materials with optimal production costs and quality in mind. Here at Williams, we continue to strive for next generation materials to meet your most demanding requirements.