Structure and Microporosity of Ion-Plasma Condensed Coatings Deposited from a Two-Phase Vacuum-Arc Discharge Plasma Flow Containing Evaporated Material Microdroplets

Abstract

The structure of “thick” (up to 100 μm) condensed ion-plasma multicomponent coatings deposited from a two-phase vacuum-arc metallic plasma flow containing “liquid” and “solid” microdroplets of an evaporated material has been studied. The structure of the coatings is shown to be dependent on the operating conditions of the vacuum-arc evaporator cathode (radiative or forced cathode cooling), the evaporator current, the bias voltage, and the substrate temperature. The existence of solid microdroplets of the evaporated material in a plasma flow leads to the formation of growth defects in the condensate and, hence, open microporosity in the coatings. A number of techniques, which enable a significant decrease in the microporosity of the ion-plasma coatings, have been proposed.