Physical-Technical Institute offers consumers a technology for producing protective and antireflection coatings for thermal imaging equipment under a commercial agreement with technical assistance or a license agreement and is looking for partners to conclude a technical cooperation agreement including joint development of antireflection coatings with the required properties, provision of coating services, development of special vacuum equipment.

The intensive development of thermal imaging technology and the wide possibilities for its use in various industries, medicine, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and military equipment require the creation of new materials, including thin-film materials that combine high optical and mechanical properties.

An experimental technology has been developed for obtaining fluorine-containing diamond-like coatings (DLC) with a thickness of 1.2 μm on aspherical lenses made of germanium, intended for photodetectors of thermal imaging equipment in the wavelength range of 8–12 μm.

Coatings are formed on the lens surface using the combined PVD-CVD method, designed to increase the transmission of infrared radiation in the range of 8-12 microns and protect the lens surface from adverse environmental factors.
Coatings are characterized by high hardness and abrasion resistance. They provide an average infrared transmittance of 97%.

Coating thickness, µm	1.08-1.25
Unevenness coatings in thickness for a spherical lens with a diameter of 52 mm, radius curvature of 54.3 mm and an aspherical lens with a diameter of 37 mm, mm	no more than 4
Average display over the wavelength range 8-12 µm, %	no more than 2
Refractive index	2.2-2.5
Transmission of infrared radiation with one-sided coating of the lens, %	63
Coating adhesion (scratch testing) over 12 N and exceeds germanium adhesion

The theoretical significance of the study is to establish the regularities of the interaction of the plasma of a pulsed cathode-arc discharge with tetrofluoroethane vapor and the synthesis of diamond-like carbon thin-film materials with the inclusion of fluorine, which provides a refractive index close to the optimal value for effective enlightenment, as well as a low surface energy to reduce the sorption of moisture and drops salt fog, increase the abrasion resistance of the lens surface.

TThe developed method makes it possible to obtain a one-sided antireflective coating of diamond-like carbon with a transmittance of about 0.61 in the range of 4–6 and 8–12 μm, which has high adhesion, exceeding cohesion to a germanium base of at least 15 N and a hardness of about 20 GPa, and is not inferior to according to their characteristics, optical elements from germanium from leading manufacturers at a significantly lower cost of the finished product, the possibility of original development according to customer requirements, including technology and equipment.

The developed technology is environmentally friendly and harmless to personnel and the environment, since the production uses non-toxic materials (carbon, argon, gases from the alkyne group) and equipment that does not require special conditions and premises for operation.

A technology has been developed for group coating of lenses and windows made of germanium to increase productivity; the process can be easily automated if it is necessary to control a small number of technological parameters (discharge pulse frequency, leakage of precursor gas, coating thickness).

The proposed technology, with minor modifications, can be used to obtain a wide range of functional coatings based on diamond-like carbon in mechanical engineering (wear-resistant coatings with high
loaded friction units), tool production (wear-resistant coatings for carbide tools), chemical and food industries (corrosion- and chemical-resistant coatings), medicine (biocompatible coatings) and other areas.

A method for producing antireflective and protective coatings on germanium windows and lenses for wavelengths in the range of 8–12 microns: Pat. 23869 Rep. Belarus / V. A. Labunov, D. A. Kotov, N. V. Leonovich, N. M. Chekan, I. P. Akula, V. V. Akulich; date of publication: 12/30/2020.(in Russian)

The Physical-Technical Institute is the leading scientific institution of the Republic of Belarus in the field of creating resource-saving and automated production, developing technologies for creating new materials, robotics and intelligent control systems and highly efficient security systems.

The institute is actively developing technologies and equipment that are used in production.

Coatings, application technologies and equipment:
- protective coatings, the purpose of which is to protect parts from corrosion in various aggressive environments, including at high temperatures;
- protective and decorative coatings used for decorative finishing of parts with simultaneous protection against corrosion;
- special coatings used to impart special properties to the surface (wear resistance, hardness, electrical insulation, magnetic properties, etc.), as well as restoration of worn parts.

Foundry technologies.
Foundry is a branch of mechanical engineering engaged in the production of shaped parts and blanks by pouring molten metal into a mold, the cavity of which has the configuration of the required part. During the casting process, upon cooling, the metal in the mold hardens and a cast is obtained - a finished part or workpiece, which, if necessary (increasing dimensional accuracy and reducing roughness), is subjected to subsequent machining. In this regard, the foundry is faced with the task of producing castings whose dimensions and shape are as close as possible to the dimensions and shape of the finished part.

Industrial surface engineering technologies:
- ionic chemical-thermal treatment;
- laser processing of materials;
- cementation;
- induction heating;
- magnetic pulse processing, etc.

New materials.
New materials are composite materials such as carbon fiber plastics, fiberglass plastics, basalt plastics, aramid plastics and metal composites, high-tech ceramics - aluminum, zirconium, oxide, nitride, carbide ceramics and others, new building materials - new insulating materials from foam glass, road surface modifiers for based on rubber powder or polymer fibers, new types of concrete.

Metal forming.
Technologies involve changing the shapes and sizes of workpieces due to the influence of external forces on them, followed by maintaining the result. After the pressure stops, the shape and dimensions of the product do not change. In order to increase ductility, the metal is heated to a certain temperature before starting pressure treatment. For each type of material, this temperature is determined individually, depending on its specific physical and chemical characteristics.

The Institute has partners in different countries of the world.

Consumers interested in purchasing technology for obtaining protective and antireflection coatings for thermal imaging equipment under a commercial agreement with technical assistance or a license agreement.

Partners interested in concluding a technical cooperation agreement, including joint development of antireflective coatings with the required properties, provision of coating services, development of special vacuum equipment.