Generation of low-temperature plasma by low-pressure arcs for synthesis of nitride coatings

Abstract

Experiments were performed to study gas, metal, and mixed metal-gas plasmas. The plasmas were generated with the use of an arc evaporator and a gas-plasma source with a hot filament and hollow cathode that were operated independently or simultaneously. It has been revealed that the arc current of gas-plasma source affects the parameters of the metal-gas plasma and the element concentrations in the coatings. It has been demonstrated that the characteristics of the nitride coatings produced by plasma-assisted vacuum-arc deposition can be controlled by varying the parameters of the arc in the gas-plasma source