Anodic arc source containment mechanisms

Abstract

An anodic vacuum arc deposition system for rapidly depositing a high quality, small grain size, coating on a workpiece. The anodic vacuum arc deposition system includes an arc initiator and an anodic electrode having a continuous feed. The anodic vacuum arc deposition system may be configured with a coaxial anode and cathode. A plurality of coaxial electrodes may used to coat a large area and/or to simultaneously deposit two or more different materials for multi-layer or alloy coating. Several material recovery systems including both methods and devices for recovery of the undeposited anodic arc coating material minimize the anode source waste such that selective coatings may be applied with virtually all excess coating material recovered for reuse. In one embodiment, an anode shield is made of the same material as the anode source material. After the deposition process is complete, captured material is recovered for future reuse by removing the anode shield and reprocessing it into anode source material. In another embodiment, unused source material condenses onto the inner surface of an containment collar and is gravitationally forced back toward the anode to be immediately vaporized for reuse. In a third embodiment, a geometric arrangement of substrates with an isotropic anodic arc at the center optimizes coating efficiency by maximizing the substrate area exposed to the vaporized material.