Gas discharge source of metal vapor and fast gas atoms

A source of metal atom flow coinciding in time and space with a flow of fast gas atoms has been studied and the study results are presented. The fast particles are produced due to charge exchange collisions of ions accelerated by potential difference between a plasma emitter inside the source and secondary plasma inside a process vacuum chamber. The emitter is the glow discharge plasma, whose electrons are confined in an electrostatic trap formed by a cold hollow cathode and an emissive grid the latter being negative both to the cathode and the chamber. The metal atoms are produced due to sputtering a target placed at the hollow cathode bottom by ions from the plasma emitter with energy up to 3 keV. Sputtered atoms cross the emitter, together with accelerated ions enter the chamber through the emissive grid and deposit on pieces placed therein. When a mixture of argon and nitrogen is used, the metal nitride coatings are being synthesized and interruptedly bombarded during the synthesis by atoms and molecules with energy variable from ∼10 to ∼300 eV.