Euromat 99, Surface Engineering

Book excerpt: Surface technology is a truly interdisciplinary topic in materials science. Nearly every component - no matter whether made of steel, metal, alloys, ceramics or plastic - is coated prior to its application. The integration of protective coatings into the design of complex components is becoming increasingly important and there is a great demand for novel coating processes, comprising surface modification and deposition. Modern coatings are being developed that can meet several functional requirements simultaneously, e.g., transparent and electrically conductive coatings for display applications. A special feature of this book is the section on laser surface treatment.