Argon-dominated plasma beam generated by filtered vacuum arc and its substrate etching

Abstract

A new technique to etch a substrate as a pre-treatment prior to functional film deposition was developed using a filtered vacuum arc plasma. An Ar-dominated plasma beam was generated from filtered carbon arc plasma by introducing appropriate flow rate of Ar gas in a T-shape filtered arc deposition (T-FAD) system. The radiation spectra emitted from the filtered plasma beam in front of a substrate table were measured. The substrate was etched by the Ar-dominated plasma beam. The principal results are summarized as follows. At a high flow rate of Ar gas (50 ml/min), when the bias was applied to the substrate, the plasma was attracted toward the substrate table and the 2 substrate was well etched without film formation on the substrate. Super hard alloy (WC), bearing steel (SUJ2), and Si wafer were etched by the Ar-dominated plasma beam. The etching rate was dependent on the kind of substrate. The roughness of the substrate increased, when the etching rate was high. A pulse bias etched the substrate without roughening the substrate surface excessively.

Argon plasma treatment on metal substrates and effects on diamond‐like carbon (DLC) coating properties

“…The intensity of G peaks (I G ) peaks was in range ∼1565–1580 cm −1 and intensity of D peaks (I D ) was in the range ∼1345–1410 cm −1 . The results were consistent with the reported literatures .…”

“…They reported the optimal adhesion, relationship between etching time, adhesion and film structure. Tanoue et al optimized surface level and roughness change as a function of Ar gas flow rate by cathodic arc plasma beam. Joes et al reported on basic research including effects of argon plasma pre‐treated substrate on structure, chemistry and delamination of DLC coated steel.…”

“…In this study, the DLC coatings were deposited with filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) system with chromium interlayer. The FCVA technique produces high quality coatings and argon plasma generated by FCVA was used for substrate etching . The present work deals with the microstructure, tribology and adhesion strength of DLC coatings deposited on argon pretreated stainless steel and WC‐Co substrates.…”

Effects of intermediate Ar plasma treatments on CrN coating microstructures and property evolutions

“…As a result, the deposition process of Cr layer was presumably still remained during the plasma treatment steps, leading to the interface to be a thin layer. Tanoue et al also reported the deposition process during the Ar‐dominated plasma condition . Moreover, the high substrate bias voltage in plasma treatment step led to the quick increase of substrate temperature, which would suspend the process owing to the temperature control.…”

Evaluation of bias voltage effect on diamond‐like carbon coating properties deposited on tungsten carbide cobalt

“…The argon plasma etching technique was adopted to achieve surface finish of nanometer scale. The increase in etching rate with increase of argon flow rate was reported by Hideto Tanoue et al . Hence, the plasma etching rate with argon flow rate of 30, 40, 50, 70, and 90 sccm were evaluated at etching time of 10 min, bias voltage of 600 V, and current of 0.3 A.…”