Approaches to rid cathodic arc plasmas of macro-and nanoparticles : a review

A major obstacle for the broad application of cathodic arc plasma deposition is the presence of micro- and nanoparticles in the plasma, also often referred to as 'macroparticles'. This paper reviews the formation of macroparticles at cathode spots, their interaction with the arc plasma and substrate, and macroparticle separation and removal from the plasma by various filtering methods. Nineteen variants of filters are discussed, including Aksenov's classic 90{sup o}-duct filter, filters of open architecture, and the concept of stroboscopic filtering.

[1]  A. Anders,et al.  Focused injection of vacuum arc plasmas into curved magnetic filters , 1994 .

[2]  M. Bilek,et al.  Deposition probe technique for the determination of film thickness uniformity , 1998 .

[3]  G. Amaratunga,et al.  Plasma motion in a filtered cathodic vacuum arc , 1993 .

[4]  S. Goldsmith,et al.  Propagation of a magnetized plasma beam in a toroidal filter , 1998 .

[5]  Xi Chen,et al.  Heat transfer from a rarefied plasma flow to a metallic particle with high surface temperature , 1994 .

[6]  A. Anders.  Growth and decay of macroparticles: A feasible approach to clean vacuum arc plasmas? , 1997 .

[7]  Kevin Barraclough,et al.  I and i , 2001, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[8]  A. Ryabchikov.  Repetitively pulsed vacuum arc ion and plasma sources and new methods of ion and ion-plasma treatment of materials , 1997 .

[9]  J. Daalder.  Components of cathode erosion in vacuum arcs , 1976 .

[10]  J. Meunier,et al.  Erosion study on graphite cathodes using pulsed vacuum arcs , 1996 .

[11]  S. Shalev,et al.  Velocities and emission rates of cathode‐produced molybdenum macroparticles in a vacuum arc , 1985 .

[12]  Plasma transport in a new cathodic arc ion source: theory and experiment , 1992 .

[13]  S. Falabella,et al.  Comparison of two filtered cathodic arc sources , 1992 .

[14]  S. Einav,et al.  Laser Doppler anemometry: a tool for studying macroparticle dynamics in a vacuum arc , 1984 .

[15]  Michael Keidar,et al.  Influence of an electrical field on the macroparticle size distribution in a vacuum arc , 1999 .

[16]  M. Keidar,et al.  Macroparticle distribution in a quarter-torus plasma duct of a filtered vacuum arc deposition system , 1997 .

[17]  S. Goldsmith,et al.  Influence of an external magnetic field on cathode spot motion and coating deposition using filtered vacuum arc evaporation , 1994 .

[18]  M. Keidar,et al.  Nonequilibrium macroparticle charging in low-density discharge plasmas , 1997 .

[19]  A. Anders,et al.  On modes of arc cathode operation , 1991 .

[20]  H. Uchida,et al.  Macroparticle-free TiN films prepared by arc ion-plating process , 1994 .

[21]  S. Goldsmith,et al.  The interaction between plasma and macroparticles in a multi‐cathode‐spot vacuum arc , 1981 .

[22]  I. Donnelly,et al.  Simulation of ion transport through curved‐solenoid macroparticle filters , 1992 .

[23]  S. Goldsmith,et al.  Macroparticle contamination in cathodic arc coatings: generation, transport and control☆ , 1992 .

[24]  P. Fröbrich.  On the decay of hot metallic clusters by evaporation , 1997 .

[25]  J. Meunier,et al.  Study of microdroplet generation from vacuum arcs on graphite cathodes , 1995 .

[26]  A. Anttila,et al.  Graphite particles in the diamond-like a-C films prepared with the pulsed arc-discharge method , 1995 .

[27]  D. Mckenzie,et al.  A study of filter transport mechanisms in filtered cathodic vacuum arcs , 1996 .

[28]  D. Mckenzie,et al.  Interactions of the directed plasma from a cathodic arc with electrodes and magnetic fields , 1996 .

[29]  H. Ehrich,et al.  Plasma deposition of thin films utilizing the anodic vacuum arc , 1990 .

[30]  S. Falabella,et al.  Continuous cathodic Arc sources , 1996 .

[31]  A. Popescu,et al.  Adhesive metal films obtained by thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) deposition , 1998 .

[32]  A. Anders,et al.  Transport of vacuum arc plasmas through magnetic macroparticle filters , 1995 .

[33]  D. Mckenzie,et al.  Electric field control of plasma and macroparticles in cathodic arc deposition as a practical alternative to magnetic fields in ducts , 1996 .

[34]  M. Bilek,et al.  Characterization of a linear venetian-blind macroparticle filter for cathodic vacuum arcs , 1999 .

[35]  J. H. Thomas,et al.  Handbook of Vacuum Science and Technology , 1997 .

[36]  S-shaped magnetic macroparticle filter for cathodic arc deposition , 1996 .

[37]  Thomas Schülke,et al.  Velocity distribution of carbon macroparticles generated by pulsed vacuum arcs , 1999 .

[38]  A. Ryabchikov,et al.  INVESTIGATIONS OF FORMING METAL-PLASMA FLOWS FILTERED FROM MICROPARTICLE FRACTION IN VACUUM ARC EVAPORATORS , 1998 .

[39]  S. Goldsmith,et al.  The numerical calculation of plasma beam propagation in a toroidal duct with magnetized electrons and unmagnetized ions , 1996 .

[40]  O. Sergeev,et al.  Vacuum arc ion and plasma source Raduga 5 for materials treatment , 1998 .

[41]  A. Anders,et al.  On the macroparticle flux from vacuum arc cathode spots , 1993 .

[42]  M. Keidar,et al.  Transport of macroparticles in magnetized plasma ducts , 1996 .

[43]  S. Falabella,et al.  Modeling plasma flow in straight and curved solenoids , 1991 .

[44]  M. Keidar,et al.  Macroparticle interaction with a substrate in cathodic vacuum arc deposition , 1996 .

[45]  A. Anttila,et al.  Diamond-like carbon coatings by arc-discharge methods , 1991 .

[46]  William D. Davis,et al.  Analysis of the Electrode Products Emitted by dc Arcs in a Vacuum Ambient , 1969 .

[47]  R. Stephenson.  A and V , 1962, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[48]  A. Anders,et al.  Effect of duct bias on transport of vacuum arc plasmas through curved magnetic filters , 1994 .

[49]  B. Cluggish.  Transport of a cathodic arc plasma in a straight, magnetized duct , 1998 .

[50]  K. G. Müller,et al.  The anodic vacuum arc and its application to coating , 1990 .

[51]  Ian G. Brown,et al.  CATHODIC ARC DEPOSITION OF FILMS , 1998 .

[52]  Peter Siemroth,et al.  Comparison of filtered high-current pulsed arc deposition (φ-HCA) with conventional vacuum arc methods , 2000 .

[53]  J. Storer,et al.  Transport of vacuum arc plasma through straight and curved magnetic ducts , 1989 .

[54]  A. Anders.  Metal plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition : a review , 1996 .

[55]  T. J. Kinder,et al.  The deposition of TiN thin films by filtered cathodic arc techniques , 1997 .

[56]  J. English,et al.  Study of electrode products emitted by vacuum arcs in form of molten metal particles , 1975 .

[57]  B. Juttner,et al.  Erosion Craters and Arc Cathode Spots in Vacuum , 1979 .

[58]  J. Musil,et al.  Cathodic arc evaporation in thin film technology , 1992 .

[59]  V. Gorokhovsky,et al.  Distributed Arc sources , 1996 .

[60]  A. Anders,et al.  Vacuum-arc-generated macroparticles in the nanometer range , 1999 .

[61]  S. Goldsmith,et al.  Principles and applications of vacuum arc coatings , 1989 .