IL194400A - Universal combined filtered plasma flux and neutral atom source - Google Patents

Description

Β^ΊΙΓΜ B^IWKI Μ:ΠΟ»Π π»τ¾π ΒΊΤ ur Universal Combined Filtered Plasma Flux and Neutral Atom Source.

FIELD OF THE ART The present invention is related to plasma ion sources, free of macroparticle, and, in particular, to the devices whose operation is based on mixing particle flows from various metal vapor / metal plasma sources, and is designed for deposition of homogeneous / compound thin films on substrate surface.

The range of produced coatings includes not only metal but also diamond like coatings as well as nonconductive and ferromagnetic films.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Nowadays vacuum ion plasma processes are considered the most advanced coating deposition methods. That is determined by their ecological safety, very clean process conditions and the coating quality. Besides, atoms and molecules are known to interact better in ionized or excited state making coating deposition process more efficient.

Cathodic arc plasma source, used for producing coatings, is one of various ion plasma source types. A vacuum arc produces substantial number of the cathode material ions. Ion flux is equal to about 10% of the arc electronic current. Ions as well as electrons can be directed on their path from the cathode to the receiving surface by changing their path and energy.

Ions generated in a vacuum arc have high "natural" kinetic energy in the range of 20-100eV providing favorable conditions for the deposition process and even for ion penetration into the internal layers. However, vacuum arcs also generate undesirable particles (cathode material particles of 0.1-30 μπι) which may cause coating defects unless filtered off plasma flux.

Particles and vapor separation or removal from the ion flux produced by the arc discharge have long been the aim of a lot of papers [1].

Magnetic filters with a weak bent longitudinal magnetic field are most widely spread. In these filters, electrons are magnetized and ion Larmor radius is by far larger than the filter size. Plasma flux runs in the bent magnetic field due to the fact that electron transverse shift is limited by the magnetic field. Ions are confined in the flux by a polarized transverse electric field produced during their shift relative to a stable electronic population [2]. The magnetic field affects neither macroparticle nor vapor motions, as a result, they are separated from the ion flux. Some of these filters provide nearly complete removal of the particles from the plasma flux [3-6].

In [7,8] an effective small-sized filtered cathodic arc plasma source with a dome transverse magnetic field having sufficiently increased plasma transport efficiency is presented.

The source design is based on the principle of producing a stable current carrying Hall stratum in a vacuum arc discharge in a transverse arched, toroidal or barrel magnetic field.

The Hall layer is located on the boundary of cathodic plasma, and its one projection coincides with the magnetic field direction, while the other projection has a shape similar to a cardoid. It provides the most possible ion reflection in the electric field of the Hall layer in the direction of the substrate deposition area while unfavorable macroparticles affected by neither magnetic nor electrostatic forces are unable to reach the substrates. An arched magnetic field is produced by permanent magnets and electromagnets. The anode is made in the form of a rod or presents a structure of some strips and is mounted at a distance approximately equal to cardioid radius from the cathode. The discharge current flowing along the anode creates an additional magnetic field the direction of which is the same as the direction of the main arched magnetic field.

Cathode spots are moving along the cathode effective surface and are being retained on it during pulse operation also due to the arched configuration of the magnetic field [8].

The ion source based on this principle conventionally comprises a few cathode units arranged in a circle or in a row. Each cathode unit comprises a cathode of consumable material (metal or graphite) and a magnetic system. Each cathode is mounted so that its effective surface is beyond the line of sight from the area where the substrates to be deposited are placed. The source is designed for operation in a pulsed mode. During pulsed operation the said cathode spots are forced to make a retrograde movement from the place of ignition on the one end of the cathode to the other end of the cathode where a current carrying electrode is mounted. An arc discharge is initiated on each cathode in turn.

Despite all its advantages, the source has a drawback. The drawback is that during plasma flux transport from the source to the substrate efficiency factor can decrease due to the loss of the ions that have a larger transverse component of the velocity relative to the flux transport axis.

Although cathodic arc plasma sources that generate flows of particles in the form of ions can govern the flows in electric and magnetic fields, as well as to accelerate or moderate them before the substrate surface, they do not meet the needs of a number of technical fields and cannot be always employed.

Authors of work [9] have offered, researched and described the cathodic-arc source based on mixing the particle flows. One of the flows is generated by the cathode spot of a vacuum arc source with magnetic stabilization and focusing. The other flow comprises atoms of the target sputtered by ions of the first flow. Thus, the effect of the macroparticle weakening achieved by focusing the primary flow, gains in strength by mixing the latter with an additional droplet-free atom flow of the sputtered target. The additional flow intensity rises in the presence of argon. The sputtered atom concentration reaches 100 % at argon pressure of ~2 Pa. If the cathode and the target are made of different materials that, it is possible to control the ratio of these metals in the total flow on the substrate by changing argon pressure, thus depositing a two-component coating of the required composition. With other things being equal, the source provides coating deposition of uniform thickness on the area by an order of magnitude greater than the area of uniform coating area deposited by a source without the sputtered target; the condensation point not exceeding 473 K. The disadvantage of such a source is the presence of macroparticles in the plasma flux.

Other conventional methods of coating deposition have such problems as high cost of the equipment and low coating deposition rate, for example, when high frequency or super high f equency discharges are used, or macroparticle contamination of deposited coatings, when employing arc sputtering without filters; or small areas of deposited surfaces, as at laser ablation, or low adhesion, as at thermal evaporation.

Another type of particle flow sources employed for producing coatings is magnetron.

Perhaps, only magnetron sputtering is to some extent devoid of lots of the above mentioned drawbacks since electron drift current in crossed electric and magnetic fields used in the process enables obtaining extensive flows of quite dense plasma with a wide range of controlled characteristics.

A conventional magnetron comprises a magnetic system, placed in a cooled housing, above which a target of sputtering material is mounted.

Argon ions are generated in abnormal glow plasma and accelerated to the target surface (cathode) where the ions physically sputter the target material atoms. The sputtered atoms ballistically flow to a substrate where they deposit as a film of target material.

A potential of one to several kilovolts is typically applied to anode and the target (cathode).

A working gas at a pressure of 10* to 10 Torr is supplied to the discharge region. Depending on the aim, for different industrial and experimental applications an inert gas (for example, argon) may be utilized as the working gas to sustain the discharge in a magnetron or it may be reactive gases for the substrate surface oxidation or nitridization, or various substance vapors, or the mixture of these gases and vapors.

Magnetron sputtering systems use arched or tunnel magnetic fields to trap and to concentrate secondary electrons produced by ion bombardment of the target surface. The magnetron discharge plasma is located proximate to the target surface and has high electron density which causes gas ionization in the same region proximate to the target surface.

Magnetrons can be employed in various fields depending on the application. In the simplest case, a direct current is applied to a single conducting target.

Compound films can be produced by a few methods. In case the target is made of a conducting compound, a coating may be produced from a target of the same composition as the film required. Multiple magnetrons with targets of different materials are also possible to use, particularly, when the vacuum chamber dimensions enable it.

Another alternative uses a pure metal target in combination with a reactive gas. Reaction between the sputtered material and the reactive gas now occurs on the film surface, thus a required structure can be produced.

For example, in this way TiAIN can be reactively grown by using a single TiAl target or by using separate Ti and Al targets in nitrogen atmosphere [10].

In addition in this publication ion assistance is used. The effect of an external ion beam on the plasma and target of a dc magnetron sputtering system in the course of reactive deposition of films is investigated. A combined experimental setup consisting of a magnetron diode and a hall-current ion source is constructed. The influence of a fast ion beam on the discharge current formation, the target emission characteristics, and the target etching rate is considered. It is shown that the ion assistance expands the operating range of the magnetron diode, increases the deposition rate, and substantially shortens the target training time. At the same time, it does not practically affect the ionization processes in the plasma.

The results testify, that the presence of an external ion source considerably reduces a striking voltage of magnetron discharge and provides operation at rather low pressures of plasma-forming gas when the existence of the discharge for a standalone magnetron is impossible.

It should be noted, that at ion assistance of the discharge, a voltage-current rate of change characteristic of the magnetron essentially decreases. Thus, the magnetron control at a high power level becomes simpler and the region of stable operation parameters of the magnetron is dilated. The target sputtering intensity considerably increases at coating reactive deposition. Ti02 film growth rate gets 3-4 times higher; AI2O3 growth rate gets 5-6 times higher. It is accounted, in our opinion, for effective removal of oxide films from the target surface by high energy ions from the external source.

If the required coating is electrically nonconductive, DC sputtering from a compound target is impossible (for example, from A Cb, which is a conventional coating material).

If a DC voltage is applied, the dielectric target surface is charged up and the sputtering process immediately stops.

This problem can be solved in two ways, or by using a metal target in reactive gas atmosphere (Al in oxygen atmosphere), or by using high frequency alternating voltage source.

If the reactive alternative is chosen, the reactive gas partial pressure should be accurately controlled. When the discharge is supplied with a large amount of gas the target surface is 'poisoned' and the sputtering process stops or gets inefficient (low rate), or an arcing can occur. On the other hand, if the gas supply is insufficient, the compound being formed will have improper stoichiometry.Therefore, a partial pressure should be controlled in order to maintain it on the level when the target is relatively 'clean' due to sputtering, while the gas supply is sufficient enough to form the required stoichiometry. The process may be rather complicated and unstable.

Another alternative uses alternating voltage (pulses or another oscillating voltage type). Two most conventional ones are radiofrequency (RF) sputtering (typically 13.56 MHz), or bipolar pulsed sputtering.

During bipolar pulsed sputtering, a voltage is changed after a short period of time and some electrons from the plasma arrive at the target surface and neutralize the discharge accumulated on it. However, it should be taken into account, that it is extremely hard to obtain the discharge in gas atmosphere in magnetron field configurations, or even impossible when polarity is opposite. Magnetron magnetic field configuration can be divided in two different categories - balanced and unbalanced. While they are not significantly different in design, their performance, in particular, regarding film growth, may vary significantly [11] . An efficient ion bombardment of the coating is often required during film deposition process. It can be achieved by applying negative bias voltage to the substrate. In the majority of cases, large ion current containing low energy ions rather than high energy ions is preferable, since the latter ones can generate stress and cause defects in the film.

Therefore, it is preferable to design the magnetic field so that it would enable the plasma portion to escape the region proximate to the cathode and reach the substrate.

In a conventional situation of a balanced magnetron, the most of the magnetic field lines are closed between inner and outer magnets, while the magnetic field return lines run inside a steel yoke with the magnets mounted. In an unbalanced magnetron, the strength of the magnetic field generated by one set of magnets, inner or outer ones, is increased; as a result, some of the magnetic field lines propagate far away from the target surface [12, 13].

In addition to the arched configuration above the target surface providing a magnetron discharge, as the term generally understood, the magnetic field of these systems has also a region of a narrowing 'magnetic funnel' located above the said arched configuration which is a secondary plasma region formed by efficient capture of electrons whose energy is higher than the ionization threshold.

In most of the papers published to date, magnetron was unbalanced by increasing the magnetic field strength of the outer magnets, that is, magnets positioned on the periphery of the target, but it is obvious that in some cases the orientation can be reversed. An additional magnetic field generated on the periphery of the sputtered target and, preferably, level with the target, is used to confine the main magnetic field.

In an unbalanced magnetron, fast secondary electrons that escape from the cathode follow the magnetic field lines and undergo ionizing collisions with the gas atoms. Plasma is not confined to the target area and expands far away from the target surface. Plasma density depends on the number of ions formed, that in its turn depends on how well the escaping electrons are confined by the magnetic field.

The funnel shaped magnetic field expands plasma, prevents plasma leakage on the chamber walls and governs the ionized sputtered atoms to the substrate. The magnetic field located closer to the target is responsible for the sputtering characteristics and plasma density, while the magnetic lines of the distant field govern the plasma flux uniformity.

To produce very dense films of high quality it is desirable that the ion to neutral ratio is more than one. The ion to neutral ratio depends greatly on the design and operation of the unbalanced cathode or on its degree of unbalance. As the target power increases, the substrate current ion density also increases, as does the deposition rate.

Unbalanced magnetron magnetic field configuration provides the increase of plasma existing region and keeps electrons from escaping onto the chamber walls and from diffusion from the discharge gap. It enables the magnetron discharge to exist at a very low pressure, that is, at 10"4 Torr instead of (KT'-lO'^Torr in a conventional magnetron. Low pressure operation also has some advantages. a) sputtered atoms track length from the target to the substrate increases, so does the discharge ions track length from the region of initiation to the substrate. It enables the substrate location at a far distance away from the source and better coating uniformity; b) a favorable self sputtering process gets more significant, that is when a substantial part or nearly the whole target is sputtered by the metal ions of the target itself. It occurs at high current density and high cathode sputtering coefficient. If metal ions density in the dense plasma region is high enough, argon supply may be decreased or even stopped. Cathode self sputtering coefficient is higher than coefficient of cathode sputtering by argon that makes the discharge more efficient, while the absence of active ions in plasma flux flowing to the substrates results in decreasing the substrate temperature; c) at low pressure, there is less danger of arcing on the target surface.

However, the low pressure operation has a problem of the magnetron discharge initiation.

Usually, the pressure of discharge stable existence is less than the pressure of its initiation. At the operation without argon supply, magnetron discharge initiation is absolutely impossible. In this situation, argon pulsed bleeding- in is used to trigger the discharge. Another way of making the discharge initiation and sustaining easier is electron feeding by means of extra electron emitters as part of the magnetron [14].

If the substrate is positioned in this secondary plasma formed away from the cathode surface, plasma ions are attracted to the substrate when the substrate is supplied with a bias voltage. The number of ions bombarding the substrate depends on the plasma density in the substrate area. To achieve high current density to be collected on the substrate, the plasma density should be high just in this area. The substrate attracts only the ions that have migrated to its sheath, whose thickness is about Debye radius, and are accelerated across the sheath by the bias voltage. Ions inside the plasma are screened by the plasma potential and are not affected by the substrate potential till they diffuse to the sheath region. Therefore, the unbalanced magnetron should create necessary conditions for free plasma flux motion to the substrate region.

The unbalanced magnetron can use both permanent and electromagnets, just as in case with a conventional magnetron. The advantage of using electromagnets is that the magnetic field strength can be varied by changing the current flowing through the coil, so the electromagnet performance depends on the current characteristics of the coil. However, electromagnets are bulky and require provision of heat removal means. Permanent magnets (AINiCo, NdFeB, etc.), on the other hand, have a fixed magnetic field. The strength of the magnetic field and magnetron unbalance is mainly determined by the permanent magnet size. Unlike electromagnets, they can be made removable and mobile.

Magnetrons can be of various sizes. They can have different target configuration, such as disk, cone, right prism, racetrack or other complex shape determined by the application.

Sputtering for producing coatings, in particular, magnetron sputtering is used in different fields of engineering, where it is impossible or useless to use cathodic arc plasma.

Magnetron sputtering can be used to produce corrosion-resistant, wear resistant, thermo-resistant, decorative or optical coatings, as well as transparent conductive coatings for displays, metal film coatings for polymers, ferromagnetic coatings for magnetic storage devices, superconductive coatings for storage cells, ultra fine relieves for photo and X-ray patterns, hard coatings (carbides, nitrides), film resistors, metallization in electronics and microelectronics, for RF, HF and UH equipment.

It is necessary to emphasize that, unlike cathodic-arc plasma flows, where ion energy is equal to about lOOeV, atom flows knocked out of the target surface in magnetron are neutral and have average kinetic energy of (l-10)eV, so they cause insignificant structural changes to the substrate surface and little radiation damages to its material. Moreover, since the substrate low temperature can be maintained during the coating deposition process, magnetrons can also be used for coating deposition on delicate materials, such as plastics in optics, electronics, optoelectronics, in memory technology, barrier technology and medical technology.

Another advantage of magnetron sputtering is high coating-substrate adhesion and low porosity. It is due to the fact that the energy of sputtered atoms is still significantly higher than the thermal energy but at the same time it is not too high to cause outlet of the gases and inclusions, preventing adhesion, out of the substrate material depth to its surface or to cause chemical decomposition of the substrate material.

Magnetron sputtering provides a high sputtering rate and is also suitable for reactive sputtering where atoms sputtered from the target bind atoms in the gas to produce coatings comprising molecules formed by the bound atoms. Furthermore, magnetron is able to sputter superconductive, ferromagnetic and composite materials as well as the materials with high melting point. It should be admitted, that cathodic arc plasma sources are also able to produce ion flows of the above mentioned materials, but they will have different properties, not always acceptable in the technology applied.

However, magnetron sputtering has some important disadvantages when compared to other sputtering methods.

One of the most important disadvantages is low target utilization and, as a result, of nonuniform thickness of deposited layers. It is caused by the localized gas ionization. Due to the low electron temperature and localized ionization region resulting from the geometry of magnetic and electric fields, the electrons, which cause the ionization, are concentrated in narrow regions at some distance from the target surface.

These narrow regions are located between the magnets poles. The sputtering gas ionization occurs mainly in the localized regions. After the ionization, the ions are accelerated towards the target surface in paths mainly normal to that surface. The ionization region narrowing results in the surface non-uniform erosion or wear, thus only a restricted portion of the target can be used till the moment it erodes throughout. The amount of the ionized gas can be increased by increasing the voltage applied but then arcing is most probable.

Another great disadvantage is that conventional magnetron sputtering systems deposit films with relatively low uniformity. The film uniformity can be improved by mechanically moving the target or/and the magnetron magnetic system [15], these systems being rather complex and expensive.

Essential disadvantage is that by means of magnetron it is impossible to achieve the deposition rate similar to the rate obtained by means of the cathodic arc plasma source.

And finally, it should be mentioned that magnetron sputtering system must be provided with arc control means that makes the system more expensive if the objective is to achieve the high deposition rate characteristic of the cathodic arc source.

To increase the deposition rate, magnetron sputtering methods have been proposed in which magnetron was powered by repetitive or single pulses. In these methods [16, 17] high deposition rate was achieved by magnetron discharge powerful pulse.

The pulse power can be in the range of 0.1 kW to 1 MW for the conventional target size, used in magnetron systems.

The pulse duration can be in the range of tens to hundreds microseconds while pulse interval can range from some fractions of a millisecond up to seconds. Thus, the pulse duration is comparable with the time of arcing, therefore the phenomenon of arcing is avoided. Firstly, it enables to increase the target current density and improve the discharge burning conditions at reactive sputtering; secondly, it enables producing coating of high quality [18]. The pulse can also be produced by pulsed switching of the magnetic field or by the gas pulsed supply, or by the three methods simultaneously.

The magnetic field strength is about (100-2000)G. The pressure in the chamber can vary from 103 to 10 Torr.

A pulsed operation of a strong current magnetron is also possible in a self sputtering mode.

However, argon supply to the chamber is still required for pulse initiation.

The difficulty of pulse initiation and the discharge long development, comparable to the pulse duration, is an essential disadvantage of this method.

To make the discharge initiation during a short pulse time easier, first, a discharge producing slightly ionized or preionized [19] plasma is obtained and maintained. A direct current supply source is used for this purpose.

The electron feeding by means of extra electron emitters increases the discharge stability in magnetron. Without an extra emitter, a stable discharge in magnetron can exist at significantly higher gas pressure than with the electron feeding. However, an essential problem occurs while using a hot filament as a thermoionic emitter, the problem is that the service life of the emitters is extremely limited (less than 100 hours), particularly when magnetron is supplied with such reactive gases as oxygen.

To decrease the discharge development time, inert gases have to be supplied at high pressure up to 10 Torr. The pressure increase on the sputtered atoms path causes the situation when fast ions dissipate and lose energy at the collision with the gas atoms. It affects the film porosity. It can also affect the film crystallization and structure. To avoid the collisions, the distance from the target to the substrate has to be decreased, that results in the coating non-uniformity.

A significant problem with magnetron systems is the contamination of the target material to be sputtered. The contamination represents the material build up caused by the low energy particle back scattering. The material is not used for sputtering and substrate deposition since it is located in the regions not exposed to sputtering because of the target design features as well as the magnetic and electric field configurations. Oxides and/or carbides on the target surface, that is sputtered material, tend to redeposit on the target periphery where the magnetic field strength is generally lower. The redeposited material cannot be used for coating deposition since it has crystalline structure different from the target source material.

Once the build up has reached a certain extent the material can start to flake off. During the process of building up, the target material together with the flakes cause contaminating impurities which enter the substrate and can cause some defects in the deposited coatings or even destroy them. As a result, all this adversely affects the coating quality.

A further problem caused by the contamination is possible arcing in the contaminated regions of the target during the operation that drastically reduces the process efficiency and prevents from producing coatings of the required structure and quality.

In case of producing diamond like coatings, argon affects the process this way. When argon gas pressure is increased, carbon ion mean free path reduces and so does ion kinetic energy.

Hence, it is expected that sp2/sp3 bond ratio may decrease with increasing argon flow.

And it was really found out that with the increasing argon flow, micro hardness of diamond like coating reduces.

It would appear that adhesion is much stronger with the increase of argon flow rate. This increase is likely due to the fact that sp /sp bond ratio is higher, and hence due to the reduction of compressed stress that is the driving force capable of delaminating amorphous diamond film from the substrate.

With a higher sp2/sp3 bond ratio, the film electric conduction also increases that shows the influence of bias voltage on the way a diamond like coating is being produced; amorphous diamond hardness does not vary at a low bias voltage (15— 20 V).

It was found [20] that the film deposition rate tends to rise with a small increase in bias.

Therefore, when the argon flow rate increases, the deposition rate also slightly increases.

Hence, gas pressure decrease is not always favorable, it is better to have an opportunity to control the discharge parameters and the gas amount in the source separately.

Utilization of hard carbon coatings in various industrial applications requires the development of a high tech system for the coating production. The system must meet nowadays production requirements that can be reached by using improved designs of devices with electron closed drift and methods developed on the base of the devices.

Hence, the object of the present invention is the design of an efficient (as for operating parameters, throughput, dimensions and cost) universal compound plasma and neutral particle flow source as well as inert or reactive gas ion- assisted production of coatings with new characteristics, namely, qualitative superhard, protective, biocompatible, low friction, ferromagnetic, insulating, diamond like composite coatings (for instance, TiN,TiAlN, TiAlBN), and substrate cleaning with metal ions and inert or reactive gas ions, the composite source being free from the drawbacks of the conventional plasma flux sources combining all the advantages of cathodic arc and magnetron sources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The stated object is obtained by the proposed design of a compound neutral atom and plasma flow source (the harmonization of a filtered cathodic arc plasma source with a cone-shaped unit) combining in a peculiar way • a filtered cathodic arc plasma source and • a cone-shaped unit, comprising a set of separate electrodes in the form of truncated cone and means for producing a conical magnetic field, functioning differently in various operation modes of the compound source and different ways of its connection to the magnetic system and electrodes power supplies, mainly by • arranging the cathodic arc plasma source in line with the cone-shaped unit; • using a set of electric windings generating an axially symmetric magnetic field; • harmonizing the said magnetic field with a magnetic field in the cathodic arc plasma source; • providing conditions for supplying the inner surface of the cone-shaped unit electrodes with a significant portion of cathodic arc plasma from the filtered source.

First embodiment. The cone-shaped unit is used as a focuser and space limiting means for cathodic arc plasma flux from the filtered source with an arched/tunnel magnetic field in order to increase arc discharge stability in a transverse magnetic field and to minimize ion loss on the path from the cathodic arc plasma source to the substrate. The magnetic system generates a magnetic field parallel to the generator of the cone. Coatings are deposited in a pulsed operation.

Second embodiment. Based on the principle of mixing cathodic arc plasma ion flux with the secondary flow of the target atoms sputtered by the primary flow of the cathodic arc plasma ions. A conical electrode is used as the target. The secondary flow intensity is affected by a negative bias voltage applied to the target and by the portion of the primary flow diverted for the target sputtering. Coatings are sputtered in a pulsed operation.

The closest to the present embodiment is the design of a vacuum-arc plasma source with the sputtered target, presented in work [9]. However, in the present embodiment, the fundamental defect is eliminated, namely, there are no particulates in the cathodic-arc plasma primary flux.

Third embodiment. Also based on the principle of flow particle mixing. A cone-shaped unit identical to the unit design of the first embodiment can be used as a cathode target of a conventional conical magnetron. A vacuum chamber is supplied with a reactive gas, and an arched/ tunnel magnetic field is formed by the magnetic system.

The coatings are deposited by overlapping magnetron constant operation with the cathodic arc plasma source pulsed operation, or by overlapping pulsed operation of both the sources. The magnetic field is scanned along the generator of the cone by switching the coils. It allows the magnetron discharge region motion all over the target surface. The sputtering region motion over the target surface eliminates one of the gravest drawbacks of magnetron sputtering -nonuniformity of the target wear. Simultaneous deposition or alternation of cathodic arc plasma flux and atom magnetron flows enables combining the advantages of both the methods.

Fourth embodiment. The conical unit is used as an unbalanced magnetron. The magnetic system generates a funnel-shaped magnetic field. The magnetic field configuration provides the discharge operation peculiar to unbalanced magnetron. The coatings are deposited by overlapping the unbalanced magnetron permanent operation with the cathodic arc plasma source pulsed operation, or by overlapping pulsed operation of both the sources. Cathodic arc plasma pulse repetition provides reliable discharge initiation in magnetron and prevents magnetron discharge extinction during the operation, thus providing magnetron discharge stability at argon low pressure and even when argon supply to the discharge slit is stopped.

Fifth embodiment. Powerful magnetron discharge repetitive pulsed operation is used in this design to increase the deposition rate significantly. The pulse power is in the range of 10 kW- 1MW. Pulse duration is from several microseconds to hundreds of microseconds with pulse interval being from fractions of milliseconds to seconds. Since pulse time is less than the time of arcing, arcing is avoided which leads to the target current density increase and to the improvement of the discharge burning conditions as well as to the coating quality increase [18]. In this variant, a pulse generator producing powerful single pulses is connected to the proposed magnetron system.

The main feature of the embodiment is the fact that magnetron pulsed discharge is triggered and maintained by a cathodic arc plasma source with pulse duration of (1— 2)μ8. Arc discharge is developed for tens of nanoseconds. It makes the imtiation easier and reduces magnetron discharge development time up to 0,1 μβ. It allows reducing magnetron discharge duration up to (1— 2)μβ, thus completely avoiding arcing.

A pulse train of 2— 100 magnetron discharge pulses, with the pulse duration from 1 to 200μ8, is nested in the arc discharge (1— 2)ms pulses.

A stable self-sputtering operation occurs when the discharge current density is high, then inert gas supply to the magnetron discharge space may be completely terminated.

Sixth embodiment. The design provides pre-burning and cleaning of the substrates to be deposited.

For this purpose, an operation is provided in which an inert gas, more frequently argon, is used as operating gas. In the gap between the anode and the cathode (the target), a voltage is applied which cannot cause significant cathode sputtering of the target material (<250V) but can provide a stable discharge in an unbalanced magnetron. The substrates are pre-burnt and cleaned by argon ions generated by the secondary dense plasma and move together with this plasma flux to the substrate location area. 1— 3kV bias is applied to the substrates. Cathode arc metal plasma (Ti) repetitive pulses also assist efficient cleaning and can prevent the magnetron discharge extinction during the operation, thus providing a stable magnetron discharge at low discharge voltage.

Seventh embodiment. The cone-shaped unit has a different magnetic system design comparing to the previous variants, and a conventional magnetron operation is used, a vacuum chamber is supplied with a working gas and a magnetic field is generated by the magnetic system, the magnetic field being suitable for ferromagnetic coating deposition Similar to the previous variants, it is possible to overlap the unbalanced magnetron constant operation with the cathodic arc plasma pulsed operation or to overlap pulsed operation of both the sources.

The annular magnetic system can be assembled of separate permanent magnets. The internal cone, the target, is made of the material to be sputtered, while the external cone is a design member whose magnetic permeability is somewhat higher than it is of the discharge material. The most important advantage of the proposed source during ferromagnetic coating deposition is that it is possible to remove the material built up by particle backward scattering on the target in the regions not affected by the sputtering, for instance, close to the magnet poles. The target is cleaned by a cathodic arc plasma flux. The magnet surface is on level with the target ferromagnetic material; therefore, the target whole surface is accessible for cleaning by the cathodic arc plasma flux.

Eighth embodiment. The cone-shaped unit identical to the unit of the first embodiment is used as a cathodic arc plasma source suitable for a stationary and quasi-stationary operation and is designed to produce protective and composite coatings such as diamond-like coating, nitride and carbonitride coatings on tools. The cathodic arc plasma primary flux source operates in the mode of short pulses and is used as a trigger to initiate an arc discharge in the conical cathode. The cathodic spots are moved and retained on the annular effective surface of the conical cathode by the arched/tunnel magnetic field. Uniform wear of the conical cathode material is achieved by producing arched magnetic field running "forward-backward" along the generator of the cone. Extensive smooth uniformly worn surface, free of contamination, protrusions and scales and fast motion of the cathode spots minimize the number of macroparticles in plasma flux.

BRIEF DISCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The summary of the invention is explained by means of the applied drawings, where FIG.l is a sectional view of the basic design of the proposed combined source for coating deposition that provides cathodic arc plasma flux transport and focusing, FIG.2 is a sectional view of the particle flow source of embodiment 2, based on the principle of combining cathodic arc plasma primary flux with the secondary flow of sputtered particles; FIG.3 is a sectional view of the combined particle flow source of embodiment 3, based on the principle of combining cathodic arc plasma source pulses with a discharge in a conventional magnetron; FIG.4 is a sectional view of the combined particle flow source of embodiment 4, based on the principle of combining cathodic arc plasma source pulses with a discharge in unbalanced magnetron operation; FIG.5 is a sectional view of the combined particle source of embodiment 5, based on the principle of combining cathodic arc plasma source pulses with heavy current magnetron pulses; FIG.6 is a sectional view of the combined particle flow source of embodiment 6, base on the principle of combining cathodic arc plasma source pulses with a discharge in an unbalanced magnetron operation at low discharge voltage; FIG.7 is a sectional view of the combined particle flow source of embodiment 7, based on combining a cathodic arc plasma source with a magnetron source; FIG.8 is a sectional view of the combined particle flow source of embodiment 8, based on utilizing a cathodic arc plasma pulsed source as a triggering device for a stationary vacuum arc on the conical cathode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERED EMBODIMENTS The proposed combined ion source in its basic variant (Fig.1 ) is based on combining and harmonization of a filtered cathodic arc primary plasma source with a cone-shaped unit being a secondary particle flow source.

In the upper part of Fig.1 - 8 and in AA section in Fig.l and 3 there is a cathodic arc plasma source which is a filtered vacuum arc plasma source with a transverse arched magnetic field. The source based on ion reflection at current carrying Hall stratum in a transverse ached magnetic field is first described in detail in [8].

In the basic embodiment (Fig.l), the filtered ion source of cathodic arc plasma is assembled on flange 1 and comprises a few (in this particular case three) cooled cathode units 2i-23 arranged symmetrically in a circle. The cathode units comprise consumable cathodes 3i-33 (metal and graphite) and magnetic systems to produce ached magnetic field 4 shown in sectional views AA and DD. When three cathode units are used, the magnetic system comprises permanent magnets 5i-53. Other variants may have four to eight cathode units (Fig.3). To avoid the impact of the neighboring cathode unit magnetic field, due to their close location, electromagnets 6i-66 are used to be triggered in turn together with the operating cathodes (Fig. 3). The electromagnets comprise electric coils 7ι-7β outside the vacuum chamber and magnetic circuits positioned partially inside and partially outside the chamber (Fig. 3). The cathode units are placed at an angle of about 45°-30° with the chamber axis.

The cathodes are connected to the same pulsed power supply 9 through separated cooled current leads 81-83, a discharge being initiated of ignition unit 10 by triggers 11 i-l I3 (Fig. 1). To connect the triggers, vacuum leads 12i-123 are provided.

Cooled anode bar 13 is positioned in the centre of the chamber in the axis of symmetry. The discharge current flows along the anode and produces a magnetic field. Magnetic field Bc of the electromagnets and magnetic field Bca of the anode current have the same direction.

The cathode effective surface is turned away from the deposition region. A vacuum arc discharge in an arched magnetic field forms a Hall layer 14 on plasma boundary, thanks to which plasma flux 15 changes its direction for an angle of 130°- 180°. The ions being reflected at the electric field of the Hall layer, change their path so that they can move away from the aforesaid cathode effective surface to the area where the substrates to be deposited are positioned, while unfavorable particles not affected by magnetic and electrostatic forces, are unable to reach the substrates. The paths of ions reflected at the Hall layer are shown in Fig.l by arrows 16.

The source operates in the mode of short pulses with repetition rate from 1 to 100 Hz. In the variant with three cathodes (Fig.l), an arc discharge can be triggered simultaneously on all the cathodes or on each of the cathodes in turn. In the variant with four - eight cathodes (Fig.3), the neighboring electromagnets can operate only in turn, due to the neighboring magnetic fields effect. It is also possible, however, to trigger a few cathodes (not neighboring ones) at the same time, that is, to divide the cathodes into some groups, according to the requirements and coating method employed and to trigger individual groups of cathodes in turn. During pulse time the cathodic spots are forced to make retrograde movement in a transverse magnetic field from the place the arc is triggered on the one end of the cathode to the other end of it where the current lead is located.

The operating pulses may follow continuously or with minimum intervals. During one pulse time, the cathodic spots are forced to run along the cathode effective surface. Run duration determines a pulse time from 1 to 3 milliseconds for different metals and different graphite type. During the second pulse, the second cathode is triggered, then the third one, and so on.

The cathodic arc plasma source is positioned in cylindrical chamber 17 which, in its turn, is connected to the cone-shaped unit with flange 18 by means of seal 19.

The cone-shaped unit comprises body 20, magnetic system 21, a system of conical electrodes in the form of rings 22 and 22' separated from the body (Fig. 1), and isolated from the body conical electrode 23 which can be sectionalized with slits along the generator of the cone or can comprise isolated rings. All the electrodes are affected by a significant heat demand and require intensive cooling. The heat is removed by means of metal tubes 24 fixed to the electrodes through heat conductive ceramics 25 (e. g. by soldering). This connection provides electrical insulation of the sections at the leakage level of 0.1 A at a voltage of 100V.

The conical body is connected to vacuum chamber 26 with flange 27. The substrates to be deposited are positioned in the vacuum chamber on rotator 28 at the outlet of the universal source. The electrodes conical shape is determined, in particular, by the fact that it enables the cathodic arc plasma primary flux to be partially supplied to the inner surface of the electrode, while the secondary flux is being directed to the substrate area.

Magnetic system 21 comprises a set of electric windings/coils producing an axially symmetrical magnetic field. The windings/coils are connected to the power source through the vacuum leads. The windings/coils function, the magnetic fields configuration and the characteristics of the coil power supplies are determined by the application of the combined particle flow source. These functions are presented below.

Electromagnets or permanent magnets can be used in the proposed source designs.

The advantage of using electromagnets is that the magnetic field strength can be changed by varying the winding/coil current. However, electromagnets are bulky, so their dimensions and the necessity of heat removal may present a serious design problem.

Permanent magnets (e.g., AINiCo, NdFeB), on the other hand, have fixed magnetic field. The fixed magnetic field strength or magnetron unbalance are determined mainly by the size of the permanent magnet. Unlike electromagnets, they can easily be made removable.

In the proposed design, it is more preferable to use a combination of permanent and electromagnets since it makes it possible to manipulate the combined source operation modes. It is convenient to use electromagnets for mode adjustment, while using permanent magnets for the source operation.

On the base of the main design a number of the particle flow combined source designs are proposed with different conical electrode configuration, material and operation modes as well as with different configurations of the magnetic fields.

In the basic embodiment, the cone-shaped unit is used as means fo focusing and space limiting the filtered cathodic arc plasma flux from the source with the arched magnetic field.

Cooled conical electrode 23 is supplied with a positive potential relative to the cathodes 3i-33, converting it into an extra arc discharge anode [21]. A magnetic field produced by coils 29i-296 is parallel to the generator of the cone and prevents electrons from flowing to the conical electrode surface. Thus, electrons are drifting in crossed electric and magnetic fields on a circular path producing a Hall layer with an electric field which deflect ions from the wall. The effect of reflecting ions from the wall is also provided by the conical electrode (extra anode) positive potential that is higher than ion natural energy (50— 100V), the electrode being supplied with cathodic arc plasma electron current. Careful selection of the magnetic field configuration results in minimum electron current on the extra anode and maximum reflection of cathodic arc plasma ions.

A significant feature of the device design is that the cone-shaped unit with a magnetic field is located in close proximity of the cathodic arc plasma source with arched magnetic field. So, the transverse magnetic field of the magnets positioned on the cathode units changes into a longitudinal magnetic field in the region where its size is not less than 40% from the field in the discharge gap. It allows retaining or even increasing the efficiency factor peculiar to the cathodic arc plasma source. The paper [8] presents the results where the transverse magnetic field increase is accompanied, on the one hand, by the increase in plasma efficiency and, on the other hand, by the reduction of the arc discharge stability.

While using the proposed magnetic field configuration, the magnetic field increase is not accompanied by the arc discharge stability reduction. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that plasma motion from the region with a transverse magnetic field into the region of a longitudinal magnetic field occurs not far from the arc discharge cathode, that is why the electron drift in the crossed fields of the Hall layer is terminated (changes into running off) with the electron flow along axial magnetic field B// (Fig.l) of the conical anode.

A suitable selection of the relationship between the arc source arched magnetic field strength and the magnetic field strength at the conical anode input 23 by means of coils 29i, and the configuration choice of the magnetic field inside the conical anode 23 by means of coils 292-296 provide the source maximum plasma efficiency. In the same way, plasma flux flowing to the substrate can be focused and space limited by using coils 292-296 and by changing a positive voltage in the range of (50-250)V on the cone by source 30. In Fig.l negative output of power supply source 30 is connected to the cathodes of the arc source.

A negative potential can be applied to rings 22 and 22' to prevent electrons from leaving the Hall layer along the conical magnetic field. However, because of possible arcing, it is advisable to keep them at floating potential since the rings floating potential acquires negative value.

Coatings are deposited in a pulsed operation at a frequency of up to 200Hz with pulse duration of (l-3)ms, or in a pulse train mode for (100-300)ms with (500-800)ms intervals between the pulse trains.

Calculation presented in paper [22] shows that outside the anode (in a currentless plasma jet) high values of temperature and electron density are maintained if there is a strong magnetic field in the region. So, in the ion sources based on vacuum arc discharge for producing high energy ions, a magnetic field should be applied not only to cathode-anode path, but also to the currentless part of plasma jet to prevent its expansion and cooling.

A conical shape the coils forms a magnetic field, axially decreasing (reducing) towards the substrate that provides higher plasma efficiency [23]. The cone may have an apex angle in the range of 0° to 45° depending on the design features of the cathodic arc plasma source. The conical shape provides a wide range of correction, focusing and defocusing of the cathodic arc plasma flux flowing onto the substrate. Ion reflection at the conical anode causes more uniform ion flow azimuth distribution (spreading), so that, when all cathodes 3j-33 operate, ion flow at the outlet of the universal source is uniform, and the substrate is supplied with a uniformly spread ion flow at a uniform rate.

Second embodiment is based on particle flows mixing. The cone-shaped unit has the same design as in the first embodiment and can be used as a secondary flow source, the flow comprising the target atoms sputtered by ions of the primary cathodic arc plasma flux. Thus, filtered primary cathodic arc plasma flux is mixed with an additional dropless sputtered discharge atom flow of cathodic arc plasma (Fig.2).

Coatings are also deposited in a pulsed operation mode.

Conical electrode 23 used as the target is supplied with a negative potential of (0.8— 5)keV.

The secondary flux level depends on both, the bias voltage applied to the target and the portion of the primary flux distracted for the target sputtering.

It should be taken into account, that conical target 23 is only reached by the ions which migrated to the region shaped as a sheath of Debye thickness close to the target surface, and are accelerated transverse to the sheath by a negative voltage. Ions in plasma are screened by plasma potential, and are not affected by the target potential till they run to the sheath region. Therefore, conditions suitable for plasma flux free flow to the conical target region should be provided near to a conical electrode.

The coils generate a magnetic field parallel to the generator of the cone. The magnetic field moves the plasma boundary away from the conical target, thus reducing ion current distracted to the target. Adjusting the magnetic field strength from zero to a certain value, it is possible to control the portion of the primary ion flux flowing onto the conical target, controlling, in this way, the secondary particle flow produced by the cathode sputtering.

The sputtering uniformity can be controlled by increasing or decreasing the magnetic field of some coils, in the same way it is possible to avoid sputtering in unfavorable regions, for example, in the region of rings 22 and 22'.

Another possible way of controlling the value and characteristics of the secondary flow is the variation of a negative potential supplied onto the conical target, since the higher the potential, the higher cathodic sputter yield. To produce significant (required) sputter yield, a negative potential is controlled in the range of 0.8 to 5kV relative to the anode or the cathode of the cathodic arc plasma primary source 9. In Fig.2 a positive output of power supply source 31 is connected to the primary source anode.

Cathode 3i-33 of the cathodic arc plasma source and conical target 23 may be made of the same or different materials, so by changing the magnetic field strength it is possible to control the metals ratio in a common flow onto the substrate, thus depositing a single- or multicomponent coating of the required composition.

This enables production of cathodic arc plasma material films doped with atoms of another material, coming onto the substrate with less energy but under conditions of ion stimulated deposition.

Cathode self sputter yield of different materials at energy of (0.8-3 )keV is about 0.08-0.1 for carbon, 1-3 for tungsten, chromium, tantalum, molybdenum, 3— 8 for silver and copper [24]. When different materials are used for the cathodic arc plasma and for the target, cathode sputter yield is about the same.

At least 20 - 30% of ion flow in the cathodic arc plasma flux has a transverse velocity component sufficient to reach the target. Since ion current in cathodic arc plasma sources is in the range of 10 - 35 A, a flow of the secondary atoms of 1 to 1 OA can be obtained by the above mentioned method in the given design.

The secondary flow atoms describe ballistic paths onto the substrate where they are deposited as a film of the target material. The sputtered particle energy is (l-15)eV.

To avoid arcing on the cone surface, the cone can be made sectional (comprising radial or annular sections in (Fig.2)) so that each section current does not exceed arcing threshold current (1-2)A depending on the target material). The current flowing through each of the sections is limited by resistors RI-RN (Fig. 2).

Providing power supply source 31 with arc control means is another way of avoiding arcing (cathode spots) on the conical target surface.

Coatings are deposited in a pulsed operation mode that also favors to avoid possible arcing.

Third embodiment is also based on the principle of particle flow mixing.

The cone-shaped unit of the same design as in the first embodiment is used as a conventional conical magnetron, a vacuum chamber of which is supplied with a working gas, and an arched (tunnel-shaped) magnetic field is produced by the magnetic system. Coatings are deposited at overlapping or alternating the magnetron source permanent operation and the cathodic arc plasma source pulsed operation, or overlapping pulsed operation modes of both the sources. The present invention offers the opportunity to control coating deposition rate in each of the flows as well as to control the flow relation and priority.

One of the flows is generated by the vacuum arc cathode spots of the source with a transverse arched magnetic field operating in a pulsed mode.

Another flow occurs on the conical target as a result of a magnetron discharge. Rings 23 of conical target serve as a magnetron cathode target while magnetron anode is anode bar 13 of the cathodic arc plasma source. Rings 22 and 22' are sheaths limiting the discharge region and are at floating potential.

Through leak 32, the discharge region is supplied with a working gas at a pressure of (10"1-10"4) Torr. Depending on the application, it may be or inert gas to sustain the discharge in magnetron, or reactive gases for the substrate surface oxidation and nitridizing, or different material vapors for various industrial and experimental applications, or a mixture of these gases and vapors. In magnetron discharge plasma, argon ions and/or ions of another working gas are generated and accelerated towards the target surface. A potential (03-2.5)kV from power supply source 31-1 is applied between the anode and the target-cathode.

The discharge plasma generated by the magnetron sputtering system is localized in the region close to the target surface and has a high electron density. Thanks to the high electron density, gas ionization also occurs in the region proximate to target surface 23. Ions acquire energy, accelerating to the cathode potential and physically sputter the target material atoms. Sputtered atoms are describing ballistic paths towards rotator 28 where they are deposited as a film of the target material.

The arched/tunnel-shaped magnetic field Bm on the target surface is produced by some coils; for example, by a pair of coils 29s and 29 (see magnetic lines of force in Fig.3). The arched magnetic field may be positioned in various annular sections of the target inner surface in turn by connecting pairs of coils 29i and 292, 292 and 293, etc., in turn. It enables magnetron discharge region to move all over the target surface. The sputtering region movement over the target surface makes it possible to eliminate one of magnetron sputtering grave drawbacks, that is, the target nonuniform wear as well as to improve the deposited film uniformity, since nonuniformity is a serious problem of coating produced by magnetron sputtering. The windings can also be switched by three phase power supply source 33. In Fig.3, there is a power supply circuit which produces a magnetic field periodically moving along the generator of the cone at a frequency of three phase mains.

In the present invention, it is proposed to take advantage of simultaneous deposition of a metal cathodic arc plasma flux and a metal neutral atom flow from magnetron having different characteristics of adhesion, structure deposition and chemical interaction with the gas atoms. Simultaneous effect of the cathodic arc plasma flux and the flow of atoms from magnetron, or alternation of the flows make it possible to combine the advantages of both the approaches and minimize the shortcomings of each of them.

For example, to produce multicomponent films of TiAIN type, Ti ion flux from a cathodic arc plasma source and Al atom flow from a magnetron discharge can be used in N2 atmosphere over a target of pure Al. This approach allows formation of a structure with correct stoichiometry by individual control of both the discharges.

The method may be used to produce high quality films of such materials as e.g., crystaline ZnO or doped ZnO, or GaN films.

To produce non-conductive films (e.g., oxides of AI2O3 type), a metal ion pulsed flux (e.g., Al) from a cathodic arc plasma source and atom flow of the same metal from a stationary magnetron discharge can be employed, a metal target being in a reactive gas atmosphere (e.g., Al in oxygen) without any fear of poisoning the target surface, terminating sputtering or making it inefficient (due to low rate or arcing). It can be explained by the fact that the target cleaning, that is, efficient removal of oxide films from the target surface by high energy ions, can be performed by a portion of the cathodic arc plasma ion flux, and, on the other hand, the lack of sputtering in magnetron can be compensated by a cathodic arc plasma ion flux of the same metal. With an external ion source, the target sputtering intensity increases so that T1O2 film growth rate increases by 3-4 times and AI2O3 by 5-6 times [10].

Utilization of external ion beam short pulses for magnetron discharge assistance causes the following effects: • Periodic very frequent repetition of cathodic arc plasma pulses also prevents magnetron discharge from extinction in this operation mode, thus providing a stable magnetron discharge existence at a low pressure. The operation pressure decrease causes the sputtered particle mean free time increase, that is, helps the sputtered atoms to avoid scattering and energy loss. Owing to this fact, the quality of coating is improved, in particular, the porosity is decreased, the film crystallization and structurization conditions are improved; the target can be positioned at a distance from the magnetron that provides better uniformity of the deposited film. Hence, the utilization of cathodic arc plasma pulses increases a number of parameters responsible for the magnetron stable operation.

• The increase of the pressure range at which magnetron stable operation is possible enables the utilization of the proposed design variant for "fine adjustment" of the target erosion profile by controlling the system working pressure. When the pressure in magnetron sputtering system decreases plasma in the vicinity of the target surface tends to expand. This effect provides more uniform plasma distribution over the target surface, thus enhancing the target sputtering uniformity. This effect manifests itself especially in the middle part of the sputtered target where it is extremely hard to obtain erosion uniformity • Due to the ion external beam, the pre-burning time of the target before the deposition process is also decreased.

• During bipolar pulsed sputtering, the presence of cathodic arc plasma makes it easier to supply the target with electrons at opposite polarity on magnetron.

Fourth embodiment. The cone-shaped unit operates in the mode of an unbalanced magnetron (Fig.4). Only the middle parts of conical electrodes 23' and 23" is used as a targets for magnetron sputtering, while annular sections 22, 22', 22" and 22"' are in different magnetron operation modes, or under the anode potential, or under a floating potential. Between the anode and the targets-cathodes, a potential is applied from two power supply sources 31-2' and 31-2".

The magnetic field configuration that provides the discharge mode typical to unbalanced magnetron is produced by 29i and 296 coils, while coils 292, 293 and 294, 295, in pairs, produce tunnel-shaped magnetic fields typical to conventional magnetron.

In the present construction it is used two cathodes-targets 23' and 23" and two closed-drift spaces with magnetic fields accordingly B'm and B"m. Thereby are carried out two simultaneous the magnetron discharge when cathodes are connected to two power modules 31-2' and 31-2".

It allows increment considerably stability of each of two magnetron discharges. It is attained due to interference of plasma (for example, ionic bombing of the next cathodes) and due to the mutual electron feeding of magnetron discharges being by a row.

On the other hand it allows to dilate the energy range of atoms and the ions intended for a spraying, and also to dilate other performances of a stream of plasma, due to an opportunity of an independent variation of voltages on each of two magnetron discharges.

In the tunnel-shaped magnetic fields, electrons are drifting in crossed magnetic and electric fields along two ring paths, producing the primary plasma close to the target surfaces.

In the present design, an unbalanced conical magnetron are produced by means of an additional magnetic fields Bma on the periphery of the conical sputtered target and are level with the target as shown in (Fig.4). The additional magnetic fields are directed so as to restrain the main magnetic fields and to form a funnel magnetic field Bm proximate to the system central axis. In this region, secondary plasma is produced, whose electrons and ions are running along the funnel magnetic field lines of force.

The vacuum chamber is supplied with a working gas. Coatings are deposited by combining a permanent operation mode of an unbalanced magnetron source and a pulsed operation mode of a cathodic arc plasma source or by combining pulsed mode of both the sources.

Coils 292, 293 and 29 ,29s of magnetron magnetic system producing a magnetic field in the cone central part are fed by a controlled power supply 34.

Coils 291 and 296, which produce the additional magnetic fields and form the funnel magnetic field proximate to the system central axis, are fed by controlled power supplies 35 and 35'.

The cathode conical shape provides a better cathode unbalance and increase in the secondary plasma density in the system central part. The funnel magnetic field and unbalanced magnetron conical shape provide the secondary plasma flux expansion along the system axis. Hence, in unbalanced magnetron, the conditions are created favorable for free magnetron plasma expansion towards substrate region 28.

Another important advantage of unbalanced magnetron of the design is the plasma existence region increase and better electron retaining from escaping onto the chamber walls as well as escaping the discharge region avoiding non-ionizing collisions. It enables magnetron discharge existence at a very low pressure, that is, at 10"4 Torr instead of 10"3 Torr in conventional magnetron.

Operation at low pressure also has a number of advantages.

Sputtered atom path length from the target to the substrate increases and so does the discharge ion path length from the origin to the substrate. It enables high speed ions to avoid scattering and energy loss at ion - gas atom collision that affects the film porosity, crystallization and structure as well as deposition (coating) uniformity.

Still another advantage is the increase in ion to neutral atom number ratio per the deposited surface, that is, a favorable condition for producing very dense films of high quality.

A favorable self-sputtering process, during which at least the most part of the discharge sputtering is performed by metal ions of the target itself, gets more significant, especially with a conical shape of the discharge gap. The process is possible at a high current density, and if metal ion density in plasma region is high enough, argon supply may be reduced or terminated.

Typically, the pressure of the discharge stable existence in unbalanced magnetron is lower than the pressure at which the discharge originates.

However, it is impossible to exclude argon supply completely in typical unbalanced magnetron since the discharge in magnetron can only be triggered if there is gas atmosphere in the discharge gap. In the proposed invention, magnetron can operate when gas supply in the discharge gap is completely terminated since magnetron discharge is triggered by cathodic arc plasma pulses in this operation mode. Periodically repeated pulses of cathodic arc plasma provide reliable magnetron discharge initiation and prevent the discharge extinction in this mode, so providing stable magnetron discharge existence at low pressure.

In the absence of argon during the operation, active argon ions stop bombarding substrates on rotator 28, therefore, the temperature of the substrates to be deposited may be significantly decreased.

Arcing on the target surface is less probable at low pressure operation. Furthermore, as the target can be cleaned periodically by cathodic arc plasma pulses, the proposed design reduces arcing significantly.

Fifth embodiment. Powerful pulsed magnetron discharge is triggered (excited) in the cone-shaped unit. To increase deposition rate significantly, a short pulse operation of powerful magnetron discharge is used in this design, the pulses following at a high repetition rate. Pulse power may be in the range of lOkW-lMW. Pulse duration can be in the range of microseconds to hundreds of microseconds with pulse interval from some fraction of a millisecond to seconds. Since pulse time is comparable with the time of arcing, no such effect occurs that makes it possible, first, to increase target current density and to improve the discharge burning conditions, secondly, to improve the coating quality [18].

In this operation mode [17] pulse generator 36 which generates powerful single pulses is connected to the proposed magnetron. Conical electrode 23 is served as a target-cathode, while bar anode 13 and or the source body are served as an anode.

The main feature of the design is that to trigger and sustain pulsed magnetron discharge, there used a cathodic arc plasma primary source in pulsed operation with pulse duration of (1— 2)ms, preferably, 1.5ms. Arc discharge in the cathodic arc plasma source develops (propagates) during some fractions of microseconds, and the plasma flux flows in magnetron discharge gap during the same period of time. It eliminates triggering difficulties and reduces magnetron discharge development time to (1— 2)ms, thus eliminating possible arcing.

Magnetron discharge (2— 100)pulse train with pulse time of 1 to 200ms is nested in arc discharge pulse (1— 2)ms long. The trains follow at a repetition rate determined by the cooling conditions of the cathodic arc plasma source, magnetron, the magnetic system and, mainly, of the substrate. An arched/tunnel magnetic field Bm strength during a pulse train is about between 100 and 1000G. The magnetic field Bm is produced by coils 291 - 296 and periodically moves along the generator of the cone by switching the coils, or if the latter are connected to a three phase power supply 33.

Unlike conventional powerful pulsed magnetron discharge, the proposed design makes it possible to reduce the working gas pressure in magnetron to the values of (10"3-10'5)Torr compared to (lO-lO'^Torr in traditional pulsed magnetrons. At a higher discharge current density a stable self-sputtering operation occurs, and inert gas supply into the discharge gap of magnetron may be stopped at all. It eliminates such disadvantages of traditional magnetrons as coating porosity and its inability to be crystallized and structurized as the result of the fact that sputtered target atoms dissipate and lose energy at the collision with the gas atoms.

Sixth embodiment. A cone-shaped unit of the same design as in fourth embodiment with a magnetic field configuration providing discharge operation mode characteristic of unbalanced magnetron may be also used for pre-burning and cleaning of the substrates to be deposited.

For this purpose, an operation is used in which inert gas, more frequently, argon is employed as a working gas. A voltage (<250V) from two power modules 31-3' and 31-3" that does not cause any visible target material cathode sputtering but provides a stable discharge in unbalanced magnetron is applied between anode 13 and cathodes-targets 23' and 23". The substrates are pre-burnt and cleaned by argon ions generated by dense secondary plasma and propagate together with the plasma flux towards the substrate region. A high bias voltage of 0.8-3kV may also be applied to the substrates positioned on rotator 28 to pre-burn and clean the surfaces to be deposited. Repeated pulses of cathodic arc metal (Ti) plasma also contribute to efficient cleaning but what is more important, they can provide magnetron discharge stable existence at a low discharge voltage, preventing magnetron discharge extinction in this operation mode.

Seventh embodiment. A cone-shaped unit has a modified magnetic system design, compared to the above mentioned variants, suitable for ferromagnetic coating deposition. In this case, a conventional magnetron operation mode is used, a vacuum chamber is supplied with a working gas and a magnetic field is produced by the magnetic system. Like in the above mentioned embodiments, it is possible to combine magnetron source constant operation and a cathodic arc plasma source pulsed operation, or to combine pulsed operation of both the sources.

The annular magnetic system is placed inside the vacuum chamber and comprises four magnet rings 37, 38, 39 and 40 with the direction of magnetization shown in Fig.7. Each ring may be assembled of a singular permanent magnet. The internal cones, that is, targets 41 and 42 comprise ferromagnetic material to be sputtered, while external cones 43 and 44 are components of the magnetic circuit and have a little higher magnetic permeability than the target material.

In the present construction it is used two cathodes-targets 41 and 42 and two closed-drift spaces with magnetic fields accordingly Bi and J¾. Thereby are carried out two simultaneous the magnetron discharge when cathodes are connected to power module 31-1 through ballast resistances Ri and R2.

It allows increment considerably stability of each of two magnetron discharges. It is attained due to interference of plasma (for example, ionic bombing of the next cathodes) and due to the mutual electron feeding of magnetron discharges being by a row.

On the other hand it allows to dilate the energy range of atoms and the ions intended for a spraying, and also to dilate other performances of a stream of plasma, due to an opportunity of an independent variation of voltages on each of two magnetron discharges.

The most important feature of the proposed operation mode for ferromagnetic coating deposition is the opportunity to clean the target surface off the material built up in the regions not affected by sputtering, e. g., close to the magnetic poles. This contaminations occur due to low energy particle back scattering and, besides, they are oxides or/and carbides. Redeposited material is incapable of being re-sputtered and its crystalline structure differs from the target starting material. So, it should be removed from the surface. The surface is cleaned by a cathodic arc plasma flux.

Unlike conventional designs [25], the magnet surfaces are placed level with the target ferromagnetic material surface so that the complete target surface is accessible for cleaning by a cathodic arc plasma flux.

This source design may be employed for depositing coatings of a number of complex materials, such as manganites in colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) devices, ferroelectrics, multiferroics, etc.

Eighth embodiment. A cone-shaped unit is used as a secondary arc plasma source cathode (Fig.8) capable of a stationary or quasi-stationary operation. Primary source of cathodic arc plasma flux is in short pulse operation and is used as a triggering device to initiate an arc discharge on the conical cathode. Cathode spots travel along the conical cathode annular surface 23 and are confined by an arched/ tunnel magnetic field Bm.

Arc discharge power supply 45 has no-load voltage up to 110V and is intended for a stationary operation at a current of (20— 60)A.

To provide reliable operation of stationary vacuum arc initiation system, the circuit includes accumulating capacitance 46 (ΰ=20μΡ) and charging resistor 47 (R=lkOhm), connected to the anode and the cathode (to points F and E) of the pulsed power source supply of the primary source of cathodic arc plasma flux.

Periodic operation of the primary pulsed source enables employing arc discharge low current, up to 20A. The conical cathode 23 may be manufactured of a set of fragments (annular or longitudinal), thus enabling multicomponent film deposition. The disadvantage of this method is the presence of macroparticles in a plasma flux. However, extensive, smooth and uniformly worn surface of the conical arc cathode cleaned from contaminations, protrusions and scales and fast cathode spots travel minimize macroparticles in plasma flux. The proposed design may be used for producing tool protective and composite coatings such as diamond- like films, nitrides and carbonitrides.

Since the given design is identical to the design of variant 3 (except for the power supply circuit), the process described in the present design variant may be employed for magnetron target pre-cleaning by the arc discharge cathode spots traveling along the target surface. When using three phase power supply of the magnetic coils, the cleaning process is (30— 90) seconds long at arc current of (60— 90) A and with conical magnetron typical size of 200x100 mm.

To sum up the above mentioned, it is possible to state that the described universal combined source may be used for • metal and graphite conductive coating deposition; • producing metal nitride coatings, for example, TiN, ZrN, TiAIN; • nonconductive coating deposition; • composite and nanocomposite coating deposition; • substrate cleaning, etching, heating and other types of surface pre-burning by metal ions; • producing coatings with controlled conductivity in the process of film deposition; • producing coatings with controlled hardness, density or porosity; • producing coatings with improved adhesion.

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Claims (8)

1. A universal combined filtered plasma flux and neutral atom source placed in a vacuum working chamber, in particular, for conductive/nonconductive coating deposition, • comprising cooled cathode units arranged symmetrically in a circle and placed in a vacuum working chamber; • each comprising a consumable cathode and magnets/electromagnets; • each cathode unit being placed at a definite angle with the chamber axis and the effective cathode surface being oriented away from the ion deposition region; • a cooled anode bar is located in the centre of the chamber in line with the axis of symmetry so that a magnetic field of current running along the anode and a magnetic field of the magnets/electromagnets have the same direction, characterize d in that • in the space between the said cathode units and the substrate region in line with the anode bar axis, a cone-shaped unit is arranged comprising a conical electrode isolated from the body and a magnet/electromagnet system producing a longitudinal magnetic field parallel to the generator of the cone and providing harmonization of the said magnetic field with an arched magnetic field in the source of cathodic arc plasma; • an extra power supply unit is provided to supply the conical electrode with a controlled positive voltage in the range of 50 - 250 V, forming a pulsed source of filtered cathodic arc plasma flux with means of harmonization, space restriction and focusing of the filtered cathodic arc plasma flux for increasing arc discharge stability in a transverse magnetic field and minimizing ion loss on the path from the cathodic arc plasma source to the substrate to be deposited, providing deposition of homogeneous/composite, hardening, protective and optical coatings.

2. The combined source defined in claim 1, wherein • the conical electrode of the cone-shaped unit forms a target sputtered by cathodic arc plasma flux when the magnetic system of the cone-shaped unit produces a controlled longitudinal magnetic field parallel to the generator of the cone; • the extra power supply unit is connected to the conical electrode supplying the said conical electrode with a controlled negative voltage of (0.8-5)kV thus producing a mixed flow of cathodic arc plasma primary ions and the target secondary atoms sputtered by ions of the primary cathodic arc plasma flux fraction distracted for the purpose. 30

3. The combined source defined in claim 1, wherein • the cone-shaped unit arranged as a set of conical electrodes isolated from the body is used as a magnetron target-cathode, when a controlled arched tunnel magnetic field is produced by the magnetic system windings/coils; • a magnetron anode is formed by the anode bar of the cathodic arc plasma source; • the magnetic system coils/windings are provided with a power supply unit to enable the arched/tunnel magnetic field to move along the generator of the cone by periodically switching the coils/windings, thus moving a magnetron discharge region all over the target surface; • a magnetron high voltage power supply unit is provided to supply the conical target with a negative controlled voltage relative to the anode bar providing efficient sputtering of the target-cathode at a constant/pulsed magnetron operation; • a working gas is supplied at a pressure of ( 10_1-1 O^Torr providing combined/alternating deposition of metal cathodic arc plasma flux and metal neutral atom magnetron flow, increasing the range of stable operation parameters of the conical source with magnetron characteristics as part of the universal source.

4. The combined source defined in claim 1, wherein • the cathode unit used as an unbalanced magnetron target-cathode comprises a set of conical electrodes isolated from the body and a magnetic system coils/windings producing a controlled magnetic field, the extreme coils providing a discharge operation typical to an unbalanced magnetron and the intermediate coils producing arched/tunnel magnetic fields typical to a conventional magnetron; • an unbalanced magnetron anode is formed by the bar anode and/or by the conical electrodes; • the magnetron magnetic system coils/windings are provided with a power supply unit to control the magnetic field strength in the central part of the cone-shaped unit; • the said extreme coils, producing an additional magnetic field on the periphery of the sputtered conical target and forming a funnel-shaped magnetic field close to the system central axis, typical to an unbalanced magnetron, are provided with a power supply unit; • a high voltage magnetron power supply unit is provided to supply the conical target with a negative voltage relative to the anode and to provide a constant/pulsed operation mode of the unbalanced magnetron at a pulsed operation mode of the cathodic arc source and the target-cathode uniform sputtering with the working gas uniform supply to the discharge 31 region at a pressure of (Κ '-ΙΟ^Τοιτ providing combined/alternating metal cathodic arc plasma flux and ion and metal neutral atom flow from the unbalanced magnetron that ensures magnetron discharge stable existence at low pressure in the discharge gap, and when gas supply to the said gap is completely terminated.

5. The combined source defined in claim 1, wherein • the cone-shaped unit used as a pulsed magnetron target-cathode comprises a conical electrode isolated from the body and the magnetic system coils forming a controlled arched/tunnel magnetic field; • a pulsed magnetron anode is formed by the anode bar and/or the source body; • the magnetic system coils/windings are provided with a power supply unit to enable the said arched/tunnel magnetic field to move periodically along the generator of the cone by switching the coils, thus moving the pulsed magnetron discharge region all over the target surface; • said magnetron is provided with a high voltage pulsed power supply unit to supply the conical target with a pulsed negative voltage relative to the anode bar body and to provide periodically repeated magnetron discharge microsecond pulse trains nested in a (1— 2)ms arc discharge pulse; • the discharge region is supplied with a working gas at a pressure of (lO^-lO^Torr providing combined deposition of metal cathodic arc plasma flux and metal neutral atom flow from the conical source with pulsed magnetron properties, providing magnetron pulsed discharge stable existence at low pressure in the discharge gap as well as under the condition when the gas supply to the said gap is completely terminated, thus producing rather dense high quality films.

6. The combined source defined in claim 1, wherein • the cone-shaped unit as an unbalanced magnetron target-cathode, the anode of said magnetron, the power supply unit of the magnetron magnetic system, controlled power supplies for producing additional magnetic fields on the periphery of the sputtered conical target and the working gas uniform supply are designed according to claim 4; • said magnetron is provided with a low- voltage power supply unit to supply the conical target with a negative voltage relative to the anode and to provide a discharge in the 32 unbalanced magnetron during the cathodic arc source operation at a low voltage and the target-cathode insignificant sputtering; • a high voltage power supply unit is provided to apply bias voltage to the substrate providing a stable discharge typical to an unbalanced magnetron at a low voltage to perform combined/alternating bombardment of the substrates by metal cathodic arc plasma ion flux and by the working gas ion flow from the unbalanced magnetron for pre-burning and cleaning the substrates to be deposited.

7. The combined source defined in claim 1, wherein • in the space between the cathode units and the substrate region in line with the anode bar, there placed a cone-shaped unit comprising two isolated from the body conical electrodes of ferromagnetic material to be sputtered as a target-cathode of a conventional magnetron and a magnetic system inside the vacuum chamber; • a magnetron anode is formed by the anode bar of the cathodic arc plasma source; • said magnetic system forming an arched/tunnel magnetic field comprises four magnetic rings and conical magnetic circuits (cores) with magnetic permeability a little higher than the conical target-cathode material permeability; • the magnetron is provided with a high voltage power supply unit to supply the said target with a negative controlled voltage relative to the anode bar and to provide the target-cathode uniform sputtering at a constant/pulsed operation mode of the magnetron; • the discharge region of the combined source is supplied with a working gas at a pressure of (IO^-I O^TOIX providing combined/alternating deposition of metal cathodic arc plasma flux and ferromagnetic material magnetron neutral atom flow, thus enabling the cathodic arc plasma flux to clean the target surface from the contaminations and redeposited material with crystalline structure different from the structure of the target starting material for producing coatings of ferromagnetic structure.

8. The combined source defined in claim 1, wherein • in the space between the cathode units and the substrate region in line with the anode bar, there placed a cone-shaped unit comprising an isolated from the body conical electrode, as a cathode of the secondary cathodic arc plasma source operating in a stationary/quasi- stationary mode, and the magnetic system coils/windings forming a controlled arched/tunnel magnetic field used for the cathode spots ordered motion; 33 said pulsed cathodic arc plasma source operating in a short pulse mode is used as a triggering device to initiate an arc discharge on the conical cathode of the secondary cathodic arc plasma source; a secondary cathodic arc plasma source anode is formed by the anode bar of the primary pulsed cathodic arc plasma source; the magnetic system coils are provided with a power supply unit to enable the arched /tunnel magnetic field to move periodically along the generator of the cone by switching the coils, thus uniformly moving the cathode spots of the combined cathodic arc plasma source all over the target surface; the secondary cathodic arc plasma source is provided with an extra power supply unit with no-load voltage of (90-110)V and current of (20-50)A, producing a stationary/quasi-stationary source of cathodic arc plasma flux providing deposition of homogeneous/composite, hardening and protective substrate coatings, such as diamond-like coatings, nitrides and carbonitrides. 34