ARC-ENHANCED GLOW-DISCHARGE IN VACUUM-ARC MACHINES

Vacuum cathodic arc evaporation is well established for the industrial deposition of a variety of hard and metallic coatings for different a pplications. The standard heating and ion-cleaning processes are easil y carried out by the metal ion bombardment generated by the vacuum arc . A novel method for heating and ion cleaning based on a dense argon p lasma produced by the electrons from the vacuum arc is presented, name ly the arc-enhanced glow discharge (AEGD). In addition to selected pla sma parameters, some characteristic features of TiN coatings deposited by AEGD surface conditioning are presented.