Review of thin film materials deposition by filtered cathodic vacuum arc process at CSIRO

The filtered cathodic vacuum arc has been used in the deposition of a wide range of materials with unique properties. The benefit of the vacuum arc was recognized early on as a potentially effective source of energetic, ionized material for depositing thin films at high deposition rates with bulk properties and for the synthesis of new advanced materials. The inherent problem of microdroplet contamination was overcome by several approaches, the toroidal magnetic duct being the most prevalent and is utilised at CSIRO. The removal of microdroplets from the depositing vapour stream has enabled the use of the technique in the preparation of high quality hard coatings, nanocomposites, oxides, nitrides and others. This paper will review the work that has been undertaken at CSIRO in developing new advanced thin films, nanostructured materials and applications using different filtered cathodic arc configurations.