High-Rate Sputter Etching of Substrates Using Hollow-Cathode Arc Discharge Sources

A high-quality vacuum deposition demands an intensive in-line pretreat-ment. For highly productive and cost-effective processes with high material throughput high etch rates are required. Therefore, a sputter etching pro-cess for metal substrates based on hollow-cathode arc discharge plasma sources has been developed. By applying an additional magnetic field, the plasma column can be extended to operating distances of up to one meter. The influence of different parameters (discharge current, gas flow, bias volt-age) on the ion current density and etch rate will be presented.