Autonomous driving coating solutions

Advanced PVD coatings for automotive components & high-resolution radar sensors – boosting performance, precision, and durability in self-driving cars

Automotive coating solutions | Ionbond
AI driving recognition

PVD coatings will enable the future of autonomous vehicles

PVD coatings play a crucial role in advancing self-driving cars to market. At Ionbond, we bringyears of expertise in coating automotive components, from engine and fuel injection parts to interior and exterior elements. Recently, we’ve expanded into coatings for high-resolution radar sensors, a key technology for fully autonomous driving.

Autonomous driving represents a shift in mobility, relying on advanced sensing systems that enable vehicles to detect, interpret, and respond to their surroundings. In complex environments, high-frequency radar sensors are essential for object detection and navigation. Ionbond’s ultra-thin PVD coatings enhance the performance of these sensors, ensuring highest precision in autonomous driving systems.

autonomous driving car inside

Coating solutions driving next-generation radar technology

As the demand for autonomous driving accelerates, radar sensors become pivotal in ensuring vehicle safety and responsiveness. The latest radar sensor generation is a more effective and cost-efficient solution than lasers or high resolution cameras.

The basic design of radar devices is quite similar across models: a stack of plastic antennas with a metallized surface, layered with insulating materials, along with a fine structured surface to emit and receive radar signals. For advanced autonomous driving, enhancing the resolution of next-generation radar sensors is essential: a self-driving car must distinguish whether a radar blip represents a tree, a pedestrian, or a traffic sign. Our very precise, thin and homogeneous coating solutions are designed to withstand various automotive challenges, allowing for consistent, high-performance operation.

Enhanced performance for high resolution radar antennas

Today, features like adaptive cruise control, lane assist and blind spot detection, enabled through radar sensors, are already mandatory in the European Union to enhance road safety for new registered passenger cars, busses and trucks.

Ionbond’s PVD coatings, engineered to sub-micrometer thicknesses, provide the reliability that autonomous vehicles require for consistent sensor accuracy – the more homogeneous the layer thickness, the better the resulting data. Designed to withstand environmental stresses, our precision coating solutions help radar systems perform reliably in diverse weather and terrains, minimizing signal degradation over time. This coating innovation supports long-term precision and resilience, essential for complex decision-making in autonomous systems. We are already in the sampling stage with radar device manufacturers to prove the performance of our coating solutions in practice.

Meeting automotive industry needs through innovation

Ionbond is dedicated to advancing the future of autonomous driving through close collaborations with radar device manufacturers and their tier 1 suppliers. We look forward to partnering with you in designing next-generation radar sensors, offering a wide range of coating options and materials tailored for various radar antenna designs, including both metallic and nonconductive layers. Our custom coating solutions are precisely adjusted to: 

Meet your specific design requirements

Ensuring high coating thickness accuracy

Ensure stable performance and durability

AI driving recognition single car

Let's revolutionize autonomous driving systems together

Each coating undergoes rigorous testing and adaptation to meet individual needs, equipping autonomous systems with the resilience and reliability they demand. By providing adaptable, high-quality coating solutions, Ionbond is helping to create safer, smarter, and more responsive autonomous vehicles that drive the evolution of modern transportation.

Our engineering team thoroughly reviews your design specifications to determine the ideal coating solution, whether for high or low component volumes. We also offer sampling and customization throughout the development process, so you can experience the real-world performance of our coatings firsthand.

Questions?

Discuss your challenges with André Hieke

André Hieke, Global Segment Manager Automotive, will be glad to support you.

We will get back to you as soon as possible

Andre Hieke

André Hieke

Global Segment Manager Automotive