Alpha coating is a coating, which can be applied to aluminum products, carbides, steel, titanium alloys, plastic and ceramics. The basis is Titanium nitrid, also known as Tinite or Tin. The primary purpose is to increase the durability and resistance of the product. Compared to Titanium coating, AC also has zirconium nitride (ZrN) as the top layer. This coating belongs to the group of PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) coatings. PVD Coating refers to a variety of thin film deposition techniques where a solid material is vaporized in a vacuum environment in temperatures between 150 °C a 500 °C and deposited on substrates as a pure material or alloy composition coating. In order to achieve even layer thickness, the treated objects are rotated at an even speed around several axes.
Thanks to the upper layer of ZrN, Alpha Coating is much harder and more durable and lasts 2x to 4 times longer than TiN.