Plasma deposition of tribological and optical thin film materials with a filtered cathodic arc source

The recent development of the filtered are deposition method (FAD) has shown that hard, wear-resistant materials can be deposited free of cathode microdroplets and with exceptional smoothness and reproducible properties. The microhardness and stress of TiN films are determined by the bias applied to the substrate during growth. Microhardness values have been measured over the range of 2000-3000 Hv. The absence of particulates in the deposited films renders the technique suitable for the preparation of high-quality optical dielectric oxide and metallic films on to ambient temperature substrates. Films of amorphous TiO2 with refractive indices of 2.45 at a wavelength of 600 nm can be easily prepared with a very low absorption. Optical-quality films of Nb2O5 and Al2O3 have also been prepared similarly by reactive deposition from pure Nb and Al cathodes. Smooth Au films with a high reflectivity are also deposited by the FAD process. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.