Deposition of Thin Refractory-Metal-Films onto Glasses through Diaphragms at Plasma Focus Facility

Abstract

The results of experiments are presented on the deposition onto silicate glasses of thin refractory-metal-films: molybdenum, tantalum and tungsten. The technique used for manufacturing films was based on the deposition of metal-containing plasma formed when exposing the surface of foils made of refractory metals to high-power plasma and ion pulses. For generation of such pulses, the facility of plasma focus type was used, which makes it possible to obtain ion beams and plasma flows with the energy flux density in the range of 10¹⁰–10¹² W/cm². The most intense central part of the ion-plasma flow was separated using metal di-aphragms with aperture diameters of 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 mm. Metal Mo, Ta and W films with dimensions of ∅3–5 mm were obtained on the surfaces of glasses. Metal films are characterized by good adhesion, since they coalesce with the glass surface. It was discovered that the planarity of films becomes violated due to the drift of molten metal particles under the glass surface. The relief of films is non-uniform, which can be explained by the presence of micrometer-sized metal particles in the plasma flow.