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ARC-Management

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A well known problem in reactive magnetron sputtering is arcing at the cathodes. This is for two primary reasons: (1) the magnetron plasma is operated at high current densities, thus favoring a transition from the abnormal glow to an arc. (2) Due to the addition of oxygen or nitrogen, the cathode surface is never quite metallic, but partially or completely covered by absorbed gas. A dielectric layer (oxide, nitride) promotes the glow-to-arc transition with locally very high current densities. This was found in early plasma physics research.
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