Transcript High productive filtered vacuum- arc plasma source
High productive filtered vacuum arc plasma source
International STCU/NATO Workshop 11-12 October 2006 Kiev Ivan Aksenov, Volodymyr Strelnytskiy (057) 3356561 [email protected]
National Science Centre “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology” Kharkov 1
Talk outline
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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 3
Problem Description & Market Need
Experts forecast that 21 st 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 R&D resulting in commercialization of CAPD technology were performed in the 1970’s 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 hydrogen-free DLC and other high-quality films; and stimulated wide-scale studies of vacuum-arc synthesis of 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. 8
Brief technology description
Cathodic vacuum arc plasma source with a magnetic filter, which turns the plasma stream 90 when plasma coatings.
compared diameter 20 cm.
о , is proposed. The filter provides considerably higher degree of absorption of macroparticles processing to conventional "toroidal" filters (more than an order of magnitude. The throughput of of the filter is up to 50 %. Filtered plasma source proposed may be used in new vacuum-arc industrial setups for the ion materials including deposition of high quality Coating depositon rate is 6 μm/h at the 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 9
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. 10
Experimental Results
Unfiltered (x300) Filtered (x300) Aluminum coating 11
Macroparticles passage through the filter 40 30 20 10 0 1 5 9 13 number of bounces 17 40 30 20 10 0 1 5 9 13 number of bounces 17 40 30 20 10 0 1 5 9 13 number of bounces 17 40 30 20 10 0 1 5 9 13 number of bounces 17 40 30 20 10 0 1 5 9 13 number of bounces 17
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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 13
Experimental Results
The new improved filtered plasma source in AFRL, WPAFB, Dayton, OH, USA 14
Experimental Results
Control rack of the new improved filtered plasma source in AFRL, WPAFB, Dayton, OH, USA 15
Experimental Results
Veeco’s (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 16
Experimental Results
Yerevan’s 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 installation.
to work on 17
Experimental Results
Elements of the gas dynamic bearing with DLC coatings (convex hemispheres) and with TiN coatings (concave hemispheres) for space vehicles 18
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 ( I i /I A ) - 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 21
Targeted Market Segment
Machine-building, optical industry, microelectronics, motor-car construction, aircraft building enterprises need it. For example: precise mechanics, - protective ultra-thin DLC and C x N y coatings on magnetic - 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 22
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 Output ion current Macroparticles level NSC Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, Kharkov, Ukraine Up to 5 A ≤ 0,5 cm Cost (per unit) $60,000 2 Fraunhofer Institute Material and Beam Technology, Drezden, Germany Up to 2,5 A (average) ≤ 4 cm 2 $150,000 International company of nanofilm technology, Singapore Up to 2 A ≤2 cm 2 $210,000 24
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 38 057 3356561 E-mail: [email protected]
NSC “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology” Kharkov 26