Carbon thin-films for cosmetic jewellery applications

Thin-films of carbon are finding use in a wide variety of military, industrial, and commercial applications. Arnell Workshop Inc., a West Kelowna, British Columbia-based cosmetic jewellery manufacturer, is using thin-films of carbon in order to coat titanium rings. As of the present moment, they are using an American firm in order to perform these depositions. They are, however, discouraged by the quality of the resultant films (they appear to be flaking and are non-uniform in thickness) and in the length of time that it takes for their product to be shipped back and forth to and from this American company (over a week). This has convinced the management at Arnell Workshop Inc. to consider performing in-house depositions. We aim to customize and optimize the deposition conditions required for these thin-film depositions using the sputtering system available at Arnell Workshop Inc. Quality assessment and accelerated aging protocols will also be developed in this project. It is hoped that the results of this project will equip our industrial partner, Arnell Workshop Inc., with a strategic advantage over its competitors.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Stephen O'Leary

Student:

Jonathan Laumer & TBD

Partner:

Arnell Workshop Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Consumer goods

University:

University of British Columbia Okanagan