Review of Cathodic Arc Deposition for Preparing Droplet-Free Thin Films

Cathodic arc plasma is one of the potential ion plating physical vapor deposition methods to prepare protective coatings on cutting tools, metal mold, etc. In particular, TiN, CrN, and TiAlN films are coated on industrial cutting tools using cathodic arc plasma. However, the cathode spot of the vacuum arc generates macrodroplets as coproducts of cathodic arc plasma containing high-energy ions. These macrodroplets may pose problems with smooth-surface films that are used for advanced high-precision applications. This paper reviews cathode phenomena particularly for a graphite cathode, the techniques for reduction of macrodroplet generation, and the techniques for macrodroplet removal from the processing plasma. The reduction technique includes steered arc, pulsed arcs, etc. The removal technique includes shielded arcs and filtered arcs. Recent filtered arc deposition systems are referred.

[1]  A. Anders,et al.  Macroparticle filtering of high-current vacuum arc plasmas , 1996, Proceedings of 17th International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum.

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

[3]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Fabrication of diamond-like carbon film on rubber by T-shape filtered-arc-deposition under the influence of various ambient gases , 2004 .

[4]  André Anders,et al.  Approaches to rid cathodic arc plasmas of macro-and nanoparticles : a review , 1999 .

[5]  A. Anders,et al.  Review of cathodic arc deposition technology at the start of the new millennium , 2000 .

[6]  H. Takikawa,et al.  ZnO film formation using a steered and shielded reactive vacuum arc deposition , 2000 .

[7]  A. Anders.  Energetic deposition using filtered cathodic arc plasmas , 2002 .

[8]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Preparation of metal nitride and oxide thin films using shielded reactive vacuum arc deposition , 2000 .

[9]  H. Takikawa,et al.  DLC thin film preparation by cathodic arc deposition with a super droplet-free system , 2003 .

[10]  D. Sanders.  Review of ion-based coating processes derived from the cathodic arc , 1989 .

[11]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Physical–chemical hybrid deposition of DLC film on rubber by T-shape filtered-arc-deposition , 2004 .

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

[13]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Carbon Nanotubes Fabricated at the Cathode Spot in a Vacuum Arc , 1999 .

[14]  A. Grill.  Diamond-like carbon: state of the art , 1999 .

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

[16]  Keiichi Tsuda,et al.  Cutting performance of DLC coated tools in dry machining aluminum alloys , 2004 .

[17]  D. Karpov.  Cathodic arc sources and macroparticle filtering , 1997 .

[18]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Formation and Deformation of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes in Arc Discharge , 2001 .

[19]  V. Strel’nitskij,et al.  Efficiency of magnetic plasma filters , 2003 .

[20]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Retrograde Motion Velocity of Graphite Cathode Spot in Vacuum Arc Deposition Apparatus , 1994 .

[21]  O. Zimmer.  Vacuum arc deposition by using a Venetian blind particle filter , 2005 .

[22]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Development of X-Shape Filtered Arc Deposition (X-FAD) Apparatus and DLC/Cr Film Preparation , 2006, 2006 International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum.

[23]  A. Chayahara,et al.  Macroparticle-Free Ti–Al Films by Newly Developed Coaxial Vacuum Arc Deposition , 1999 .

[24]  S. Falabella,et al.  Coating technology based on the vacuum arc-a review , 1990 .

[25]  I. Aksenov,et al.  Transport of plasma streams in a curvilinear plasma-optics system , 1978 .

[26]  Avi Bendavid,et al.  The filtered arc process and materials deposition , 2001 .

[27]  J. Robertson,et al.  Interpretation of Raman spectra of disordered and amorphous carbon , 2000 .

[28]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Carbon nanotubes in cathodic vacuum arc discharge , 2000 .

[29]  Philip J. Martin,et al.  Nanocomposite Ti-Si-N, Zr-Si-N, Ti-Al-Si-N, Ti-Al-V-Si-N thin film coatings deposited by vacuum arc deposition , 2005 .

[30]  B. Tay,et al.  Transport of vacuum arc plasma through an off-plane double bend filtering duct , 1999 .

[31]  H. Takikawa,et al.  The properties of nanocomposite aluminium–silicon based thin films deposited by filtered arc deposition , 2002 .

[32]  P. Siemroth,et al.  A new generation of filtered arc sources for ultrathin top coats on magnetic hard disks , 2004 .

[33]  Gousuke Shiraishi,et al.  Elimination of droplets using a vane velocity filter for pulsed laser ablation of FeSi2 , 2002 .

[34]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Development of X-Shaped Filtered-Arc-Deposition (X-FAD) Apparatus and DLC/Cr Film Preparation , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science.

[35]  J. Robertson.  Diamond-like amorphous carbon , 2002 .

[36]  P D Swift.  Macroparticles in films deposited by steered cathodic arc , 1996 .

[37]  O. Takai,et al.  Preparation of diamond-like carbon thin films by shielded arc ion plating , 1997 .

[38]  Philip J. Martin,et al.  Handbook of vacuum arc science and technology : fundamentals and applications , 1995 .

[39]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Ionized plasma vapor deposition and filtered arc deposition; processes, properties and applications , 1999 .

[40]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Influence of duct bias on deposition rate of DLC film in T-shape filtered arc deposition , 2006 .

[41]  H. Takikawa,et al.  Development of X-Shape Filtered Arc Deposition Apparatus for Thick ta-C Film Coating , 2006 .

[42]  J. Daalder.  Cathode spots and vacuum arcs , 1981 .

[43]  S. Goldsmith,et al.  Plasma distribution and SnO2 coating deposition using a rectangular filtered vacuum arc plasma source , 2004 .

[44]  P. Siemroth,et al.  High current filtered arc deposition for ultra thin carbon overcoats on magnetic hard disks and read-write heads , 2003 .

[45]  H. Randhawa.  Cathodic arc plasma deposition technology , 1988 .

[46]  M. Keidar,et al.  Recent progress in filtered vacuum arc deposition , 1996 .

[47]  H. Mecke,et al.  Possibilities of influencing vacuum arc evaporation by time-dependent arc current , 1995 .

[48]  P. Martin.  Review of the filtered vacuum arc process and materials deposition , 2001 .