Tangential cathode magnetic field and substrate bias influence on copper vacuum arc macroparticle content decreasing

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of accumulation of copper macroparticles (MP) on a negatively biased substrate immersed in DC vacuum arc plasma. The influence of normal and tangential magnetic fields and high-frequency short-pulsed negative bias was investigated. The joint application of a tangential magnetic field and high frequency short-pulsed negative bias provides an effect of MP multifold suppression. With a tangential magnetic field strength of 175 Gs and repetitively pulsed bias (7 μs, 105 p.p.s., − 2 kV), total suppression efficiency is 250-fold after 6 min of ion-plasma treatment. For macroparticles with the diameter of less or > 1 μm, the efficiency is 3000-fold or 70-fold, respectively. In comparison with an axisymmetric vacuum-arc plasma source, the application of a steered arc ensures a 10-fold reduction in MP density on a substrate immersed in copper vacuum-arc plasma. The possibility of ion implantation using low-energy high-frequency short-pulse plasma immersion by implementing DC vacuum arc plasma is discussed.