A vacuum arc source for arc evaporation of boride includes: a cathode made of at least 90 at-% of boride, in particular made of more than 98 at-% of boride; an anode, which is preferably in the shape of a disk; a body made of a material which is less preferred by arc discharge compared to the cathode, the body surrounding the cathode in such a way that during operation of the vacuum arc source, movement of an arc on an arc surface of the cathode is limited by the body. At least 90 at-% of the material of the anode is of the same chemical composition as the cathode.

An arc ignition device for cathodic arc deposition of a target material onto a substrate, comprising a trigger finger arranged moveable between a contacting position and a resting position, wherein in the contacting position a side surface of an adjacent target can be physically contacted by the trigger finger, and in the resting position the adjacent target cannot be contacted by the trigger finger, wherein during cathodic arc deposition of a target material, the trigger finger is arranged movable between the contacting position and the resting position in such a way that the contamination of the trigger finger with deposited target material during the cathodic arc deposition of the target material can be minimized.

An improved cathodic arc source and method of DLC film deposition with a carbon containing directional-jet plasma flow produced inside of cylindrical graphite cavity with depth of the cavity approximately equal to the cathode diameter. The generated carbon plasma expands through the orifice into ambient vacuum resulting in plasma flow strong self-constriction. The method represents a repetitive process that includes two steps: the described above plasma generation/deposition step that alternates with a recovery step. This step provides periodical removal of excessive amount of carbon accumulated on the cavity wall by motion of the cathode rod inside of the cavity in direction of the orifice. The cathode rod protrudes above the orifice, and moves back to the initial cathode tip position. The said steps periodically can be reproduced until the film with target thickness is deposited. Technical advantages include the film hardness, density, and transparency improvement, high reproducibility, long duration operation, and particulate reduction.

A filter (104a, 104b, 108) for a cathode arc source comprises: a filter duct having at least one bend (104a, 104b), and a first magnetic field source for steering plasma through the filter duct for removal of macroparticles from the plasma; wherein the apparatus comprises a second magnetic field source (108) which is rotatably mounted surrounding a portion of the filter duct. Cathode arc sources (102) and cathode arc deposition apparatuses (106) comprise the filters described herein, and methods of filtering macroparticles from a beam of plasma emitted from a cathode arc source use the filters.

An improved cathodic arc source and method of DLC film deposition with a carbon containing directional-jet plasma flow produced inside of cylindrical graphite cavity with depth of the cavity approximately equal to the cathode diameter. The generated carbon plasma expands through the orifice into ambient vacuum resulting in plasma flow strong self-constriction. The method represents a repetitive process that includes two steps: the described above plasma generation/deposition step that alternates with a recovery step. This step provides periodical removal of excessive amount of carbon accumulated on the cavity wall by motion of the cathode rod inside of the cavity in direction of the orifice. The cathode rod protrudes above the orifice, and moves back to the initial cathode tip position. The said steps periodically can be reproduced until the film with target thickness is deposited. Technical advantages include the film hardness, density, and transparency improvement, high reproducibility, long duration operation, and particulate reduction.

A plasma processing apparatus includes an electrode to which a high frequency for plasma generation is applied and which serves as a mounting table for a target object. The plasma processing apparatus further includes a high frequency generation unit, a distortion component extraction unit and a waveform correction unit. The high frequency generation unit generates the high frequency by using waveform data including a set frequency component having a predetermined frequency. The distortion component extraction unit extracts a distortion component given to the high frequency in a path for transmitting the high frequency generated by the high frequency generation unit to the electrode. The waveform correction unit corrects the waveform data by combining an antiphase component obtained by inverting a phase of the distortion component and the set frequency component of the waveform data used for generation of the high frequency.

The invention relates to a method for coating work pieces in a vacuum treatment system having a first electrode embodied as a target, which is part of an arc vaporization source. Using the first electrode, an arc is operated with an arc current and vaporizes material. A bias voltage is applied to a bias electrode, which includes a second electrode that is embodied as a work piece holder, together with the work pieces. Metal ion bombardment is carried out either to pretreat the work pieces or in at least one transition from one layer to an adjacent layer of a multilayer system, so that neither a significant material removal nor a significant material buildup occurs, but instead, introduces metal ions into a substrate surface or into a layer of a multilayer system.

An arc deposition system includes a coating chamber and a central cathode target disposed within the coating chamber. At least two anodes surround the central cathode target. Each anode is positively biased with respect to the central cathode target such that each anode independently induces an associated racetrack erosion profile on the central cathode target. At least two magnetic components are located within the central cathode target. The magnetic components guide an associated arc that forms its associated racetrack erosion profile. Characteristically, each anode of the at least two anodes has an associated magnetic component.

Aspects of the present disclosure involve a power supply circuit for powering a plasma reactor and more specifically initiating and maintain a plasma therein, and that can operate with power from an intermittent power source. The power supply may include an auxiliary-power supply or trigger circuit, in addition to a primary-power supply circuit, which can reduce the need for high-voltage equipment in the high-power section of the power supply. In one particular use, the power supply includes a high-voltage power output that may be used for generating a plasma between electrodes, for example, in a nitrogen-fixation plasma system. The power supply circuit may provide the flexibility to power a plasma reactor using an intermittent power source, such as solar, wind, and/or a periodic low-cost power grid, while reducing wasteful power conditioning, lowering the cost of operation, and increasing the efficiency of chemical production from the renewable energy.

A system for use in coating an interior surface of an object is provided. The system includes a vacuum chamber enclosure defining an interior configured to receive the object, and a cathode coupled to the vacuum chamber enclosure. The cathode is fabricated from a coating material and has an outer surface. The cathode is configured such that when a current is applied to the cathode, an arc is formed on the outer surface and the coating material is removed from the cathode to form a cloud of coating material. The system also includes a collimator configured to be positioned between the cathode and the object configured to focus the cloud into a beam of coating material and to direct the beam towards the object, and a magnet configured to alter a path of the beam such that the beam is directed towards the interior surface of the object.