A biasing method for plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition process to enhance coating adhesion

A multi-purpose high voltage pulse (HVP) supply was developed for PIII&D process, to provide bias voltage of DC, HVP and HVP + DC to the workpiece. The pretreatment (sputtering cleaning) of the workpiece, ion implantation, hybrid PIII&D or normal deposition, can be finished in one vacuum cycle. In the system a vacuum bend-guide microwave ECR source is used to produce plasma. Ti/TiNx coating was prepared in this biasing manner with the PIII&D system. The result shows that the adhesion of the coating is enhanced with the HVP + DC composite biasing when the pulse amplitude and the DC voltage are chosen properly. The deposition rate can be maintained relatively high at an intermediate level between the conditions with pure HVP and DC bias. This work shows that the composite biasing is an effective method to improve the coating's properties in PIII&D process.