Oerlikon Balzers is a part of the

OC Oerlikon OC Oerlikon is a listed technology group headquartered in Pfäffikon (Schwyz), Switzerland. The name "Oerlikon" (or "œrlikon", as the company styles itself according to its corporate identity) comes from the Oerlikon district in Zurich where t ...

group, a Liechtensteiner technology conglomerate, and a supplier of PVD coatings. The OC Oerlikon group consists of companies in the following segments: Manmade Fibres, Drive Systems and Surface Solutions. The coatings produced by Oerlikon Balzers aim to improve the performance and service life of, for example, metallic precision components by reducing

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of t ...

and supplying additional hardness.

History

With the support of Prince

Franz Josef II Franz Joseph II (Franz Josef Maria Aloys Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignaz Benediktus Gerhardus Majella; 16 August 1906 – 13 November 1989) was the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein from 25 July 1938 until his death. Franz Jose ...

and Swiss industrialist

Emil Georg Bührle Emil Georg Bührle (31 August 1890 in Pforzheim – November 26, 1956 in Zürich) was a controversial German arms manufacturer, art collector and patron who emigrated to Switzerland. His art collection is now housed in the Foundation E.G. Bühr ...

, Professor Max Auwärter founded Gerätebauanstalt Balzers. The objective was to make the then largely unknown and little-researched vacuum

thin film A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ap ...

technology usable on an industrial scale. Since no systems and equipment for the production of thin-film coatings were available at the time, the company developed and produced them in-house. The first popular applications were sun protection and

anti-reflection coating An antireflective, antiglare or anti-reflection (AR) coating is a type of optical coating applied to the surface of lenses, other optical elements, and photovoltaic cells to reduce reflection. In typical imaging systems, this improves the effic ...

s for

ophthalmic lens A corrective lens is a lens (i.e. a transmissive optical device) that is typically worn in front of the eye to improve daily vision. The most common use is to treat refractive errors: myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. Glass ...

es, anti-reflection coatings for camera lenses,

optical filter An optical filter is a device that selectively transmits light of different wavelengths, usually implemented as a glass plane or plastic device in the optical path, which are either dyed in the bulk or have interference coatings. The optical p ...

s and reflectors and thin films for electronic applications. In 1976, the company became a member of the Oerlikon Group, then Oerlikon-Bührle Holding AG. In 1983, the first coating center was opened outside of Liechtenstein in Italy. One year later, the step to America was taken, and in 1987, the first center in the Asian region took on its operation in Japan. In June 2014, the OC Oerlikon Group acquired Sulzer Metco from the Swiss

Sulzer AG Sulzer Ltd. is a Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm, founded by Salomon Sulzer-Bernet in 1775 and established as Sulzer Brothers Ltd. (Gebrüder Sulzer) in 1834 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Today it is a publicly traded company w ...

, which has since then been operating under the name Oerlikon Metco. The thin film business of Oerlikon Metco is integrated into Oerlikon Balzers since 2015. Together, the two companies form the "Surface Solutions Segment" of the Oerlikon Group. Oerlikon Balzers operates over 100 coating centres in more than 35 countries, and employs more than 5,100 people. The headquarters of Oerlikon Balzers is located in Balzers, Liechtenstein, where over 560 people are employed.

Products

The company offers contract coating services in Europe, the Americas, and Asia; PVD and PACVD-based coating solutions; heat treatment solutions; and coating equipment. Its products and services are used in various applications in cutting, metal forming, plastics processing, die casting, automotive, motorsport, ship, train, truck, aerospace, food processing and packaging, medical, oil and gas, power generation, household appliance, decorative, mechanical engineering, and semiconductors. They also serve the automotive and transportation, aerospace, medical, food and packaging, energy, consumer goods, and engineering sectors worldwide.

References

{{Reflist Technology companies established in 1946 Technology companies of Liechtenstein 1946 establishments in Liechtenstein OC Oerlikon