Influence of the pulsing of the current of a vacuum arc on rate and droplets

The main disadvantage of present arc deposition is the occurrence of drople ts incorporated in the deposited layers. Usually the droplet erosion from t he target limits the coating rate and the productivity of the d.c.-arc proc ess. The contribution shows the significant reduction of the number and the size of the droplets incorporated in TiN- and TiAlN layers by using a puls ed-arc coating process. Furthermore, the pulsed-arc process allowed higher deposition rates. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.