Patent ID: 6692623
Filing Date: 2004-02-17
Classification: C23C,H01J

Abstract:
A vacuum arc vapor deposition apparatus comprising:a film forming chamber containing substrate and being vacuum discharged; a vacuum arc evaporating source for producing a plasma containing a cathode material by vaporizing a cathode by vacuum arc discharge; a magnetic coil for generating a magnetic field for deflecting or converging said plasma produced by said vacuum arc evaporating source, and guiding said plasma to the vicinity of said substrate within said film forming chamber; a coil power source for feeding a coil current for generating said magnetic field to said magnetic coil, said coil power source reversing a flowing direction of the coil current fed to said magnetic coil; a control unit for controlling said coil power source to reverse the flowing direction of the coil current fed to said magnetic coil; a plurality of thickness detecting units, disposed in the vicinity of said substrate, each for measuring a thickness of a film formed by said plasma; and wherein said control unit performs the control for reversing the flowing direction of the coil current when a difference between film thickness values as measured by said plurality of thickness detecting units exceeds a predetermined value.