Plasma chemistry fluctuations in a reactive arc plasma in the presence of magnetic fields
The effect of a magnetic field on the plasma chemistry and pulse-to-pulse fluctuations of cathodic arc ion charge state distributions in a reactive environment were investigated. The plasma composition was measured by time-of-flight charge-to-mass spectrometry. The fluctuation of the concentrations of Al+, Al2+ and Al3+ was found to increase with an increasing magnetic field strength. We suggest that this is caused by magnetic field dependent fluctuations of the energy input into cathode spots as seen through fluctuations of the cathode potential. These results are qualitatively consistent with the model of partial local Saha equilibrium and are of fundamental importance for the evolution of the structure of films deposited by reactive cathodic arc deposition.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 821438
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-49956; APPLAB; TRN: US200411%%110
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 80, Issue 22; Other Information: Journal Publication Date: 06/03/2002; PBD: 13 Jan 2002; ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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