COMBINED ELECTRIC ARC SOURCE OF METAL PLASMA Russian patent published in 1995 - IPC

FIELD: electrical engineering. SUBSTANCE: combined electric arc source of metal plasma is intended for deposition of conductive coats. Each cathode is provided with magnetic screen produced from magnetically soft material embracing stabilized electromagnetic coil. For effective screening of magnetic fields height of magnetic screen should be not less than height of electromagnetic coil. This makes it possible to place two and more electric arc sources in close proximity of each other ensuring their effective simultaneous operation. Electromagnetic coil fed with arc discharge current is connected in series with cathode so that plane of its center section corresponds to boundary between evaporated and non-evaporated regions of cathode and height Z of evaporated region and number of turns W of electromagnetic coil are tied up by relation W≥ 5(Z²+25)^3/2. It minimizes number of ampere-turns of electromagnetic coils and leads to reduced mass and dimensions of electric arc source. EFFECT: improved stability of operation of electric arc source and uniformity of wear-out of cathode when electric arc source is placed in close proximity of another similar source. 2 cl, 1 dwg