Plasma filtration of vacuum arc droplets

Theoretical and experimental studies have been performed on the effect of the gas-discharge plasma on the vacuum arc droplet fraction arriving at the sample in plasma-assisted deposition of TiN coatings. It has been shown that the number of droplets on a negatively biased sample decreases four or five times if the droplet flow passes through the plasma of a low-pressure nonself-sustained arc discharge having a higher electron temperature than the plasma of the vacuum arc. Possible mechanisms for the observed plasma filtration of the droplet fraction of a vacuum arc are discussed