Thin metal and metal oxide films deposited by the anodic vacuum arc technique

Thin metal (e.g., Al, Cu, Ag) and metal oxide films (e.g., SiOx, AlyOx, SnyOx) were deposited on synthetic materials using a vacuum arc with a consumable anode. In constrast to a cathodic vacuum arc, the anodic vacuum arc generates a droplet free, only the evaporated anode material consisting of plasma in the entire volume. The degree of ionization can easily be influenced by the geometrical position of the anode with respect to the cathode. The ion energy on the surface can be adjusted by biasing the substrates. With this technology it is possible to deposit thin homogeneous metal films with an extremely high rate of growth. The films are distinguished by their high purity and bulk character. The temperature of the substrates during deposition is well below 100°C and ignition takes place below 10-2 Pa. In order to deposit metal oxide films on synthetic materials we evaporated metals or metal oxides (e.g., SiO) in an oxygen atmosphere with an oxygen partial pressure ranging between 10-1 and 5 Pa (reactive anodic arc deposition). The metal films and metal layer systems were deposited to improve the electrical performance of the synthetic materials. The quality of the films was characterized by measuring the adhesion, and additionally the portion of scattered light of the transmission for the metal oxide films were measured after a sand trickling test according to DIN 52 348.