High%20productive%20filtered%20vacuum-arc%20plasma%20source

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High productive filtered vacuum-arc plasma source

• International STCU/NATO Workshop
• 11-12 October 2006
• Kiev
• Ivan Aksenov, Volodymyr Strelnytskiy
• [phone]
• strelnitskij_at_kipt.kharkov.ua
• National Science Centre Kharkov Institute of
  Physics and Technology
• Kharkov

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Talk outline

•   
• What is needed in the market?
• Brief technology description.
• Stage of development.
• Who needs it how many will they need?
• What is my unique technology advantage?
• Competitive matrix.
• How will I beat the competition?
• Opportunity for joint work.

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Proprietary information statement

• The equipment presented in this talk is available
  for licensing or joint product development.
• The patent application is filled. The owners of
  the invention are Air Force Research Laboratory
  (OH, USA) and National Science Centre Kharkov
  Institute of Physics and Technology
  (Kharkov,Ukraine)
• Filtered cathodic-arc plasma source.- Application
  number 10/693,482
• filling date October 21, 2003

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Problem Description Market Need

• Experts forecast that 21st century will be the
  century of nanostructural materials and
  nanotechnologies. Success in these fields depends
  on the development of coating deposition
  techniques.
• One of the perspective coating deposition
  technique based on vacuum-arc filtering plasma
  source. There are many patents in this field but
  there is no device and available technological
  process that can be used in industrial practice.
• Machine-building, optical industry, precise
  mechanics, microelectronics, motor-car
  construction, aircraft building enterprises need
  it.

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Brief description advantage of vacuum arc
technique

• The cathodic mode of the vacuum arc discharge is
  capable to generate plasmas of any conductive
  material, to be deposited as a coating
• Cathodic arc plasmas are practically fully
  ionized and hence can be manipulated with
  electric and/or magnetic fields
• Electric fields allow changing the ion energy and
  thus structure and properties of the films
  deposited
• Magnetic fields are used to guide and homogenize
  the plasma and thus to homogenize the coating
  produced at the deposited surface area
• Bombardment by ions of the material to be
  deposited before and during the deposition
  process ensures a very high adhesion of coatings
  deposited by CAPD process
• Condensation of the cathodic arc metal plasma at
  a presence of reactive gases (nitrogen, oxygen,
  carbon containing gases) enables to synthesize
  compound films and coatings (from nitrides,
  oxides, carbides) with a wide range of
  properties
• The CAPD method enables a deposition rate in a
  wide range of about nanometres through tenth
  micrometres per hour.
• The pioneer RD resulting in commercialization of
  CAPD technology were performed in the 1970s in
  Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology
  (KIPT), Ukraine. Since 1980 after purchasing CAPD
  technology and the pilot setup (Bulat machine)
  by the MAVS company (USA), worldwide interest in
  CAPD has gone exponentially.

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Brief description drawback of vacuum arc methord

• The main drawback of the CAPD is due to presence
  of macroparticles (droplets and solid fragments
  of a cathodes material) in the plasma flow
  emitted by the vacuum arc cathode spot. The
  initial velocity of macroparticles is up to 100
  m/s. The quality of coatings deposited is
  drastically degraded.
• This drawback is the major obstacle for broad
  application in electronics, fine mechanics,
  optics, etc.

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Brief description macroparticles cleaning from
plasma flows

• The best approach of macroparticles cleaning
  from a plasma flow is magnetic filtering
• This method is the most popular. It is
  based on the spatial separation the trajectories
  of macropaticles and ions in the curvilinear
  plasma guiding channel of the magnetic filter.
• The first magnetic plasma filter was
  invented in Kharkov Institute of Physics and
  Technology, Ukraine, in 1976. This filter
  facilitated the use of CAPD to form high-quality
  diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating and stimulated
  wide-scale studies of vacuum-arc synthesis of
  hydrogen-free DLC and other high-quality films
• Existing plasma filters characterized by
  low productivity, imperfect macroparticles
  cleaning. Thus they can not be used in industrial
  practice.

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Brief description macroparticles cleaning from
plasma flows

• In NSC Kharkov Institute of Physics and
  Technology, Ukraine, there was developed the new
  improved vacuum arc filtered plasma source.
• The filter of this source is equipped by
  macroparticles trap and set of absorbing screens,
  that allows to lower the concentration of
  macroparticles in the plasma flow more than 10
  times.
• The new design of plasma guiding duct and
  magnetic system allows to increase the output ion
  current at the exit of the filtered source up 5 A
  (at the arc current of 100 A) that more than
  twofold higher as compared to other known
  filters.

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Brief technology description

• Cathodic vacuum arc plasma source with a magnetic
  filter, which turns the plasma stream 90?, is
  proposed.
• The filter provides considerably higher
  degree of absorption of macroparticles when
  compared to conventional "toroidal" filters (more
  than an order of magnitude. The throughput of
  the filter is up to 50 . Filtered plasma source
  proposed may be used in new vacuum-arc industrial
  setups for the ion plasma processing of materials
  including deposition of high quality coatings.
• Coating depositon rate is 6 µm/h at the
  diameter 20 cm.
• Coatings materials
• - DLC, metals (Ti, Cr, Nb, Mo, Cu, Al,
  etc.), alloys, nitrides,
• oxides, carbides, composites, multilayers.
• Substrate materials
• Metals, alloys, steels, glass, plastics,
  ceramics

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Brief description
Left Filtered vacuum-arc plasma source.
1-cathode 2-anode 3 and 4 - input and output
sections of plasma duct 5 MP trap 6 -
additional section of the plasma duct 7 - anode
insertion 8 through 14 - magnetic coils 15 -
screens 16 - fins 17, 18 collector positions
for ion current measurements. Arrow points a
direction of plasma flow. Right photograph of
the filtered vacuum arc plasma.
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Experimental Results
Unfiltered (x300)
Filtered (x300) Aluminum
coating
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Macroparticles passage through the filter
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Advantages

• High degree of plasma filtering
• Efficiecy of plasma transfer through the filter
  twofold exceeds the efficiency of other known
  devices
• The output ion current is up to 5 A that is
  larger then the ion current of other known
  devices
• The high stage of development. The pilot sample
  of the source have been manufactured, tested,
  optimized and can be installed on the industrial
  equipment

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Experimental Results
The new improved filtered plasma source in AFRL,
WPAFB, Dayton, OH, USA
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Experimental Results
Control rack of the new improved filtered plasma
source in AFRL, WPAFB, Dayton, OH, USA
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Experimental Results
Veecos (NY, USA) coating deposition industrial
equipment comprising filtered vacuum arc plasma
source for deposition of high quality wear
resistant ultra thin DLC coatings on the elements
of storage devices
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Experimental Results
Yerevans set-up equipped with the new improved
filtered plasma source for deposition of thin AlN
coatings on Polyacrylic Fresnel concen-trator
photovoltaic modules. Training of the personnel
of State Yerevan University of Armenia to work on
installation.
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Experimental Results
Elements of the gas dynamic bearing with DLC
coatings (convex hemispheres) and with TiN
coatings (concave hemispheres) for space vehicles
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Experimental Results
Pistons of the compressor (a) and displacer (b)
of the gas cryogenic machine with DLC coatings.
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Experimental Results
Efficiency of the main versions of known filtered
vacuum-arc plasma sources
The ratio of the total ion flow at the channel
exit to the discharge current (Ii/IA) - the
system coefficient - is commonly assumed to be
the efficiency criterion of plasma passage
through the system as a whole (generator
filter).
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Stage of development

• Prototype available for testing
• Patented in USA Filtered cathodic-arc plasma
  source.- Application number 10/693,482
• filling date October 21, 2003

The new improved filtered plasma source in NSC
KIPT, Kharkov, Ukraine
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Targeted Market Segment

• Machine-building, optical industry, precise
  mechanics, microelectronics, motor-car
  construction, aircraft building enterprises need
  it. For example
• - protective ultra-thin DLC and CxNy coatings on
  magnetic storage hard disks and read-write heads
  for computers
• - synthesis of materials including insulating
  ceramic matrices, such as AL2O3 and ZrO2, for
  preparation of nanocomposite and nanostructured
  tribological coatings for the issues of
  ambient/space cycling, high-temperature
  lubrication, and reliability of space and air
  vehicles
• - wear protective transparent AlN and DLC
  coatings on the polyacrylic Fresnel concentrator
  photovoltaic modules
• - wear resistant friction coatings on gasdynamic
  and electrostatic supports of gyroscopes and
  centrifugal devices
• - protective DLC coatings for infra-red optic
  elements (mirrors, lenses, windows).
• We think that plasma filtered plasma source
  price of about 60,000 is acceptable for
  Customers

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Competition

• Our main competitors are
• Fraunhofer Institute Material and Beam
  Technology,
• Drezden, Germany
• International company of nanofilm technology,
  Singapore
• We will beat the competition by higher key
  characteristics and lower cost of our product .

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Competitive Matrix
Important product or technology characteristics NSC Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, Kharkov, Ukraine Fraunhofer Institute Material and Beam Technology, Drezden, Germany International company of nanofilm technology, Singapore
Output ion current Up to 5 A Up to 2,5 A (average) Up to 2 A
Macroparticles level 0,5 cm-2 4 cm-2 2 cm-2
Cost (per unit) 60,000 150,000 210,000

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Opportunities

• Joint development of commercial equipment for the
  coating deposition, equipped with the new
  improved vacuum arc filtered plasma source
• Joint development of commercial technological
  processes of filtered coatings deposition with
  use of the new equipment
• Creation of joint venture for production of the
  new improved filtered plasma source and equipment
  with use of this source, and/or for production
  of articles coated using the new equipment.
• Potential partners and licencees.

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Contact information

• Volodymyr Strelnytskiy
• Telephone [phone]
• E-mail strelnitskij_at_kipt.kharkov.ua
• NSC Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology
• Kharkov