Transport of vacuum arc plasma through an off-plane double bend filtering duct

A new magnetic macroparticle filter design consisting of an off-plane doubl e-bend (OPDB) filter is described. The transport of the vacuum are plasma t hrough this OPDB filter is investigated using Langmuir and deposition probe s. Films of amorphous hard carbon have been deposited using a 90 degrees si ngle bend and the OPDB filter and the macroparticle contents of the films a re compared. The experimental results were found to be in good agreement wi th the simulations results based on an improved drift approximation model. The results demonstrate that OPDB filter has a relatively better transmissi on efficiency than the 90 degrees single bend filter, lower macroparticle c ounts and is suitable for preparation of diamond-like carbon coatings with high quality. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.