ARC-DISCHARGE SYNTHESIS OF UNIFORM THICKNESS DIAMOND COATINGS ON LARGE AREAS

A gas-dynamical method for correction of the temperature field and, si multaneously, of the atomic hydrogen concentration field in the plasma jet near the substrate is developed. An investigation of two operatio n modes of the gas-vortex plasmatron with gas-dynamical fixation of it s are length is carried out: the first mode with an anomalous expansio n of the plasma jet and the other with the absence of plasma jet expan sion. It is shown that the use of the above mentioned method for the c ase of the second operation mode provides the uniform diamond coating (DC) deposition over the diameter about 28 mm and simultaneously incre ases the DC synthesis effectiveness. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Sc ience S.A.