Study of Ceramic Coatings as a Novel Optical Imaging Tracking Material Using Plasma Spray

In this work, plasma-spray processes are notably applied to prepare functional coatings on a glass substrate as optical reflective layer for auxiliary devices of image tracking such as computer mouse pads. It is the first time to report the Al₂O₃-40%TiO₂ ceramic coating on mouse pad using air plasma spraying. In order to compare with performance of A4 size paper commonly used as standard testing pad, tracking performance test was conducted at acceleration of 0.5G and velocity ranging from 0.5 ips (inch/sec) to 20 ips with increment of 1 ips. It is observed that performance of Al₂O₃-40%TiO₂ coating is much better than that of A4 size paper. The movement of mouse on pad thus can become much more stably and smoothly. Furthermore, this ceramic coating is with great potential on application of image recording device for the good enhancement of resolution. It thus deserves further intense study.