Macroparticle-free thin films produced by an efficient vacuum arc deposition technique

Macroparticle-free films of various metals and diamond-like carbon have been obtained by a pulsed vacuum arc deposition technique. An axial magnetic field (100–200 mT) generated by the discharge current itself was used to focus the plasma produced by the cathode spots and to guide the plasma flow through a macroparticle filter. The films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. They were found to be macroparticle-free. The total efficiency of the combined gun-filter plasma source is even higher than a standard nonfiltered vacuum arc plasma source in terms of deposited film thickness per discharge, because the plasma losses in the filter are overcompensated by the focused plasma injection into the filter.