Erosion and cathodic arc plasma of Nb–Al cathodes: composite versus intermetallic

Zöhrer, Siegfried; Golizadeh, Mehran; Koutná, Nikola; Holec, David; Anders, André; Franz, Robert

doi:10.1088/1361-6595/ab5e32

Title: Erosion and cathodic arc plasma of Nb–Al cathodes: composite versus intermetallic

Journal Article · Mon Feb 24 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Plasma Sources Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6595/ab5e32· OSTI ID:1760218

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^[1]; Koutná, Nikola ^[2];

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Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria)
Technische Univ. Wien (Austria); Masaryk Univ., Brno (Czech Republic)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Many properties of cathodic arcs from single-element cathodes show a correlation to the cohesive energy of the cathode material. For example, the burning voltage, the erosion rate, or, to a lesser extent, plasma properties like electron temperatures or average ion energy and charge states. For multi-element cathodes, various phases with different cohesive energies can initially be present in the cathode, or form due to arc exposure, complicating the evaluation of such correlations. To test the influence of morphology and phase composition of multi-element cathodes on cathodic arc properties, a Nb–Al cathode model system was used that includes: pure Nb and Al cathodes; intermetallic Nb₃Al, Nb₂Al and NbAl₃ cathodes; and three composite Nb–Al cathodes with atomic ratios corresponding to the stoichiometric ratios of the intermetallic phases. Pulsed cathodic arc plasmas from these cathodes were examined using a mass-per-charge and energy-per-charge analyzer, showing that charge-state-resolved ion energy distributions of plasmas from the intermetallic and corresponding composite cathodes are nearly identical. An examination of converted layers of eroded cathodes using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy indicates the formation of a surface layer with similar phase composition for intermetallic and their corresponding composite cathode types. The average arc voltages do not follow the trend of cohesive energies of Nb, Al and intermetallic Nb–Al phases, which have been calculated using density functional theory. Possible reasons for this effect are discussed based on the current knowledge of multi-element arc cathodes and their arc plasma available in literature.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1760218

Journal Information:: Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 29, Issue 2; ISSN 1361-6595

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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