Guides to Vacuum Processing
By Dr. Peter M. Martin, Executive Editor
Filtered Cathodic
Arc Depostion
F
iltered cathodic arc is a member of
the family of arc deposition
processes used to deposit thin
films for a range of applications. This
process is used extensively to deposit
tribological and wear resistant thin films,
and is now moving into optical and semi-
conductor areas. The cathodic arc
process has been around since the 1880s.
Other members of the family are cold
cathode and anodic arc deposition.
Figure 1 shows the first rudimentary
system invented by Thomas Edison in
1884 [1]. This vacuum process was orig-
inally used to deposit low grade hard
coatings. Arc vaporization occurs when a
high current, at low voltage, is passed
through a source material placed between
two electrodes, the anode and cathode.
The surface of the electrode (cathode or
anode) is vaporized and forms a plasma
of the ejected molten material, as shown
in Figure 2. This process produces parti-
Figure 1. Cathodic are system patented by
Thomas Edison in 1894 [1].
cles with a wide range of sizes and result-
ing coatings have large particulates in
them. Macroparticles, ion and neutrals are
produced by the arc. The ions, being
charged atoms, form the plasma. The par-
ticles are deposited onto a substrate. The
macroparticles degrade coating perfor-
mance and over all coating quality.
In addition to the macroparticle issues,
the major problems faced by the cathodic
arc process were
Variable particle count and
deposition rate
Large area coverage not possible
Poor thickness uniformity
Poor film quality
Poor arc control
Poor repeatability and reliability
for production processes
High maintenance
Figure 2. Formation of a cathodic arc and
plasma [2].
The filtered cathodic vacuum arc
(FCVA) process was developed to
address these problems and eliminate the
macroparticles that degrade coating per-
formance. Figure 3 shows a schematic
diagram of a typical FCVA deposition
system and Figure 4 shows a diagram of
the cathode source [2]. An ignition device
is used to generate the arc. The arc source
and cathode and anode are basically the
same as the cathodic arc process, but the
ejected particles are fed into a curved duct
that has a focusing magnetic field and a
steering field that separates the particles
by mass, thus filtering them. Unwanted
macroparticles and neutral atoms are
filtered out by mechanical filters. The
coating species reaching the substrate are
pure ions. The beam of particles must be
rastered over the substrate to coat large
areas. We remember from basic physics
that a moving charged particle (in this
case an ion) is deflected by a magnetic
Figure 3. Schematic diagram of filtered
cathodic arc deposition system
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Figure 4. Schematicdiagram of cathode source [4].
field. Only ions are deflected by the mag-
netic field. The force on the ion is
F = qvXB, where
q is the charge on the ion, v is its veloc-
ity and B is the magnetic field strength,
both are vector quantities. The cross
product is v X B, which deflects the par-
ticle with a force perpendicular to the
direction of flight, thus forming an
curved path. The radius of the path of the
deflected ion is proportional to the mass
of the ion and its velocity [3]. The energy
and path of the ions can thus be tuned to
the mass of the ion by adjusting the cur-
vature of the filter field and particle duct.
Historically, FCVA had the following
drawbacks:
Variable process control and stability
Poor thickness uniformity
Deposition of multilayer films
difficult
Codeposition requires a hybrid
process
Anode caking and poisoning a
major problem
Limited substrate rotation options
Referring to Figures 3 and 4, an igni-
tion device is used to create the arc and
particles are vaporized at the cathode. All
particles are passed through a filtering
electric field and focusing magnetic field
and the ion-containing plasma exits from
Figure 5. Picture of FCVA production
system
the curved duct and are deposited onto the
substrate. The energy of the ions can be
tuned by the electric field strength and can
range from 20 to 3000 eV, similar to that
of an ion source. Compare this to the 10
eV energy of sputtered atoms and we see
that a much wide range of ion energies is
possible with FCVA. Typical chamber
pressures during deposition are 10 Torr
-6
(much the same as evaporation). A pro-
Figure 6. Interior of FCVA hard coating
duction system is shown in Figure 5 and
system.
the interior of a hard coating system
shown in Figure 6. While deposition Table 1 shows the materials that have
parameters are system dependent, the been deposited by FCVA processes.
process has been improved over the last Nanocomposites and diamond-like
decade and state-of-the-art production carbon DLC) hard wear resistant films
systems now can claim the following per- have been successfully deposited. High
formance results [3]: quality optical coatings are now being
deposited [5].
Substrate temperature < 80 deg C
Medium substrate areas Table 1. Thin film materials deposited by
FCVA processes
Solid source material
Application Material
Thickness uniformity 4%
Data storage ta-C
Repeatability 5% Al2O3
Good film quality Precision engineering and tools ta-C
Low operating costs TiN, TiC, AlN, WC
Antiscratch Al2O3
Microelectronics: metallization Cu, Ta, TaN
It should be noted that a conductive
source is required, but reactive deposition Metallization Ti, Cr
has been achieved. Often the source must Transparent electrode ITO
be heated to make it conductive. For Wear resistance DLC
Ti-C-N
example, semiconductors become very TiN/Si3N4
conductive when heated. Deposition rates nanocomposite
can be very high.
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Figure 7. Comparison of hardness of TiN films deposited by PVD and FCVA processes.
Figure 8. SEM cross sections of TiN films
deposited by FCVA.
Most noteably has been the synthesis
of the Ti-Si-N compositions with super-
hardness values in excess of 40 GPa. The
enhanced properties of these coatings are
attributed to the refinement of the grain
size resulting from the control of particle
sizes and energies. One or more phases
are present at the nano-scale to form a
nanocomposite layer. Figure 7 compares
the hardness of PVD and FCVA deposit-
ed TiN films, and Figure 8 shows the
SEM images of cross sections of the
films [3].
Nanocomposite coatings consisting of
TiN nanoparticles embedded in a Si3N4
amorphous matrix have been deposited
by a hybrid combination of FCVAS and
magnetron sputtering processes. In gen-
eral, the composite can be described by
the composition nc-MeN/a-Si3N4 (where
MeN is a transition metal nitride such as
Figure 9. Schematic of ion assisted FCVA
process [5].
VN, TiN, NbN, ZrN, etc in an amorphous
silicon nitride matrix). Nanocrys-tals are
relatively free of dislocations and when
high stress is applied any dislocation
movement that may be present is trapped
at the grain boundaries by the amorphous
matrix resulting in an increase in the
strength. See the VT&C issue hard coat-
ings.
As with all deposition processes, differ-
ent deposition parameters are required to
optimize the performance of each thin
film material. Ultrahard amorphous car-
bon coatings with hardnesses up to 80
GPa are deposited with a C+ ion energy of
50 eV with thickness uniformity of 10 %
over a 14 4 cm area [4]. The arc source
was a 19 mm diameter graphite cylinder.
Average deposition rate peaked at 800
/min for a rastered spot, with a local
deposition rate exceeding 1.5 m/min.
A stated above, the FCVA process has
been combined with other deposition
processes to form hybrid processes; most
often with magnetron sputtering, thus cre-
ating a versatile production process. A
wide variety of materials have been
deposited using ion assist combined with
FCVA [6]. Figure 9 shows how the ion
source (ion gun) is located in the arc
chamber. DLC with hardness > 50 GPa,
Al2O3, AlN, TiCN, TiO2, C3N3 have all
been deposited using this hybrid tech-
nique. Process control and stability have
been significantly improved using ion
assist (see above). Anode poisoning has
also been reduced. As with all deposition
processes, film density and mechanical
properties can generally be improved
using ion assist.
Virtually every deposition process has
strengths and weaknesses. The major
advantages of FCVA process are high
deposition rate, tunable ion energies that
can improve coating adhesion and densi-
ty, only ions are deposited, low substrate
temperatures, dense coatings and combin-
able into hybrid processes.
References
1. T. A.Edison, US Patent 526,147.
2. Nanofilm Technologies International
3. John R Reitz and Frederick J Milford,
Foundations of Electromagnetic Theory,
Addison-Wesley (1967).
4. DA Baldwin et al, 38th Annual Technical
Conference Proceedings of the Society of
Vacuum Coaters (1995) 309.
5. P J Martin and A Bendivid, 38th Annual
Technical Conference Proceedings of the
Society of Vacuum Coaters (1995) 309.
6. M L Fulton, 42nd Annual Technical
Conference Proceedings of the Society of
Vacuum Coaters (1999) 91
Vacuum Technology & Coating