Patent ID: 6692624
Filing Date: 2004-02-17
Classification: C23C,H01J

Abstract:
A vacuum coating apparatus comprising:a consumable metal cathode accommodated in a housing used as an anode, a solenoid disposed on the anode, the anode being in communication with, and electrically coupled to a vacuum chamber, and connected to an arc discharge dc power supply, the consumable metal cathode being coupled to the arc discharge dc power supply, and a capacitor with a ballasting resistor shunted to the arc discharge dc power supply, and an arc striking system connected to an initiation unit and including a starter electrode and a dielectric insert, characterized in that the consumable metal cathode and the anode are eccentric to the axis of the solenoid, with the axis of the cathode and the anode being offset towards the region containing a substrate to be coated, the region being outside the cathode visibility area, and the offset distance approximately equal to a diameter of the consumable metal cathode, the apparatus further comprising a diode shunted to the resistor and having a polarity opposite to that of the arc discharge power supply, and ribs provided on a part of the inner surface of the housing to prevent reflection of macroparticles of the coating being deposited toward the substrate region, the ribs being located on a part of the inner surface of the housing between the vacuum chamber and the level of the starter electrode.