With increasing e-mobility and autonomous driving, the demand for electronically controlled functions and components in cars is rising rapidly. Future vehicle generations will use numerous apps to navigate occupants from A to B as comfortably and autonomously as possible. A small, low-profile component is gaining importance in this scenario. A few millimeters wide and a few centimeters high, it is nevertheless crucial for the driving and functional readiness of almost all processes in the car: connectors. On average, there are already more than 2,500 of them at various switching points in a car. In view of new safety systems, higher demands on the infotainment system and autonomous driving, the requirements for quality, reliability and assembly are continuing to increase. Intelligent surface improvements based on so-called DLIP technology (Direct Laser Interference Patterning) can set new standards in this area.
Surfunction GmbH, a spin-off of Saarland University, Dresden University and the Material Engineering Center Saarland, has for the first time transferred the patented DLIP technology into industrial implementation for the requirement described above. DLIP has been used to overcome long-standing challenges such as reducing mating force or contact resistance in electrical systems. However, in order to make even more versatile and efficient use of DLIP, other complementary processes - from chemical nanotechnology to electroplating - are increasingly being combined with DLIP. So-called extended Direct Laser Interference Patterning (xDLIP) is the latest cross-sectional technology in the field of surface functionalization and represents the latest generation of DLIP optics.
With the help of this technology, measurable improvement effects are achieved in electrical contacts in all the areas mentioned. The mating force can be reduced by up to 40 percent and the electrical contact resistance by up to 80 percent, depending on the tribo-electric system - with maximum system reliability. However, the process is also suitable for many other surface functionalizations.
Read a detailed report on the subject shortly in mo issue 11/2022 or here on oberflaeche.de!