Cu film deposition using a vacuum arc with a black-body electrode assembly

A vacuum arc with black body electrode configuration is used to deposit thin Cu films on glass substrates. In this configuration, a cup shaped anode, a refractory insulator, and a water cooled cathode form an enclosed volume from which dense plasma of cathode material was extracted through different types of apertures (one hole, frontal or radial shower-head) in the anode. All materials emitted from the cathode (including macroparticles) were re-evaporated from the hot anode producing in the enclosed volume a dense plasma which extracted through the anode aperture. The Cu deposition rate with the frontal shower anode was about 3.6 μm/min at a distance Ls = 80 mm from the anode for current 200 A. Deposition with the radial shower anode produced a film which was azimuthally equal. The cathode erosion rate with this electrode configuration was a factor of 2–3 lower than that in a conventional cathodic arc indicating higher cathode material utilization.