Surcotec can examine your coatings (electrolytic, chemical, under- vacuum, …) to explain, characterize or inspect them.
Examples: lack of proper quality control, customer claim, product return, product recall, …
Examples of coatings
Structure of layers
Understand the thickness and morphology of layer stacking.
Column deposit of Cr alloy 3um.
Multilayer treatments
Analyze the cohesion and porosities in constituent interface layers.
Alumina (Al2O3) residue between gold layer and PdNi.
Composition profile
Find the composition profile of different layers for production inspection.
Stacking of Cr and Au on a copper part.
Delamination during use
Characterization of adherence failure and find a solution (surface tension, roughness, cleaning, …).
TiNOx layers on a stainless-steel stent
Non-Conformity
Find the cause of rejects during (residues, incrustations, …).
Au-Ni-Rh galvanic inhomogeneity around a Pb particle
Undesired appearance
Explain a drift of process through on our great experience with coatings.
Nodular aspect of a non-conforming rhodium plating
We use mainly the technique of scanning electron-beam microscopes (MEB with x-ray probe), with several of these in-house, before using other equipment within our network of partners (XPS, FTIR, …) to go further in our analysis and confirm or modify the analysis results.
We are recognized for our scientific expertise, our involvement in your specific issues and our industrially acceptable lead-times, to find you an answer that is constructive, pragmatic, and rapid.
Your problem is our priority
Some examples of our clients’ problem
- Product returns which lowers customer confidence and affects sales.
- Variety in production batches creating a non-conformity rate that is unacceptable.
- Hurdles in product R&D with a drift in project management
Our strong points
- High reactivity (reply within 24h is possible)
- Highly qualified team (EPFL and HES qualified engineers)
- Cutting edge technology (Zeiss MEBs, Keyence microscope)
- Great customer service (dedicated email labo@surcotec.ch with trained assistants)