A new spark plasma sintering furnace opens up the possibility to produce wear‑resistant materials at the Institute of Physics

The equipment of the Thin Film Technology Laboratory at the Institute of Physics was recently expanded with a spark plasma sintering (SPS) furnace*. This is a high‑tech device SPS2000 by SUGA Co. Ltd, that enables the fabrication of compact materials (e.g., ceramics, composites, metals, alloys) by using ultra‑fast and precisely controlled powder sintering through electric current and pressure.

In an SPS furnace, a very strong pulsed electric current (several thousand amperes) is directed into the powdered material placed inside a mold, ensuring extremely rapid heating (up to 1000 °C/min). During heating, only the surface of the powder particles melts or softens. When the powder is simultaneously compressed, this “soft” shell around the particles fills the voids between them, forming a dense, pore‑free material. The rapid heating rate helps limit grain growth, allowing the production of nanostructured materials that would be very difficult or even impossible to obtain using conventional methods. For example, this makes it possible to produce (sinter) hard and wear‑resistant materials from powdered precursors. The range of suitable materials is very broad:

• materials with high melting temperatures (W, Mo, Ta), hard composites and hardmetals (WC–Co, SiC, B₄C, TiB₂), etc.
• various functional materials (thermoelectric, piezoelectric, etc.)
• nanostructured powders
• amorphous and metastable materials

It should be noted that nanostructured materials are very sensitive to prolonged heating. Therefore, the SPS furnace is particularly suitable for their processing, as it minimizes grain growth and helps preserve the nanostructure. The new furnace also enables the sintering of carbide‑based ceramics, which are used in industry to produce cutting tools and other wear‑resistant components. As a result, the new equipment creates promising opportunities for developing collaborations with companies. Naturally, high‑level instrumentation also enhances the quality of our scientific research.

* The acquisition of the spark plasma sintering furnace was made possible thanks to the Estonian Research Council project TemTA‑31 “Carbides Synthesized from Recycled Materials and Their Application in Manufacturing and High‑Tech Industries” and the University of Tartu Development Fund.