IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 24, NO.

2, APRIL 1996 523

1Eros:ion Study on Graphite Cathodes
Using Pulsed Vacuum Arcs
Munther Kandah and J ean-Luc Meunier, Member, ZEEE
Abstract- In this work, the dependence of the cathode ero-
sion rate on vacuum arc spot velocities and cathode pore size
are investigated for four types of graphite under an external
variable magnetic field. Different graphite cathode properties
show varying erosion rates, indicating that each graphite type
should be treated as a different material. Increasing the spot
velocity through an increase of the magnetic field intensity on
a given cathode material decreases the erosion rate. At given
magnetic field values, cathodes having higher arc velocities show
an increase in the erosion rate. Other studies indicating that
the increase in the arc spot velocity leads to a reduction in
macroparticles emission indicate a possibility of increasing the
emission of the carbon ions component. A decrease in the pore
size of the cathode also shows a m increase in the cathode erosion
rate.
I. INTRODUCTION
ANUFACTURED graphite is not one specific material,
M but a family of materials. Each member of the family is
essentially pure carbon but each varies from the other in such
things as the orientation of the crystallites, the size and number
of pore spaces, the grain sizes, the density, etc. Consequently,
there is a corresponding variation in the physical properties [ 11.
The use of graphite in many diverse areas of industrial activ-
ity is due to the unique combination of physical and chemical
properties of this material. It is a good conductor of electricity,
a superior refractory, it has high thermal conductivity, high
thermal shock resistance, excellent high-temperature strength,
excellent machinability, high sublimation temperature, and a
low modulus of elasticity. Solid carbon in the form of graphite
is extensively used in many areas as electrode material for
electric arcs, as a source of carbon ions in arc ion plating
and as a wall material in nuclear fusion devices. It is also
widely used as thermionically emitting electrodes for arc
furnaces at atmospheric pressure. A good knowledge of the
erosion properties of graphite when subjected to electric arcs
is particularly important in the low pressure applications of
arc ion plating, in which solid carbon particles have to be
minimized, and of wall surface shields in fusion devices where
a minimal mass loss of the graphite is needed. The interaction
between graphite material properties and vacuum arc spot
Manuscript received August 24, 1995; revised February 9, 1996. This work
was supported by the J ordan University of Science and Technology (J UST),
the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC),
and the Fonds pour la Formation des Chercheurs et 1Aide A la Recherche
(FCAR).
behavior implies the choice of the graphite cathode material
may be a very important issue depending on the application.
The temperature dependence of the cathode erosion and
velocities of vacuum arcs in an external magnetic field were
investigated for three types of graphite (Poco-Graphite type
AXF-SQ, Papyex-Graphite, and Ringcidroff-Graphite type EK-
506) by Koch et al. [2]. Their study showed that the velocity
on AXF-5Q shows no dependence on temperature up to
2000 K. On Papyex-Graphite cathodes, however, the velocity
increases with increasing cathode temperature above 1200 K.
The measured erosion rates of AXF-5Q and EK-506 show both
only a very little dependence on the cathode temperature.
The high current density over the small arc spot area at the
catlhode results in a flux emitted from the arc source consisting
of ions, neutral vapor and macroparticles. Data on the ion
current emitted and ion charge are relatively well known [3],
[4], this makes a calculation of their contribution to the total
catlhode mass loss possible. The paesence of neutral vapor
has been established [3], [5], but ils amount and origin is
unclear. It is widely acknowledged that neutral metal vapor
constitute only a small fraction (1--2%) of the total mass
transfer. Several investigators [4], [6], [7] have noticed the
existence of particles produced in vacuum arcs. More recently,
Kaindah and Meunier [8] have measured particle numbers and
size distributions as a function of heat load input to a graphite
cathode spot in vacuum arcs. Results indicated the number
of emitted macroparticles, their mean size and the width of
the size distribution correlated with the heat load input to the
cathode spot. Their study also shows a very regular spherical
shape of most emitted particles and very few irregularly shaped
particles. These results suggest the emission mechanism is
mainly based on local heat load rather than thermal shock
effects. Residence time of the arc spot on a given site of the
electrode is thus of prime importance.
In this study, the dependence of the erosion rate on the arc
spot velocity and the graphite cathode pore size are inves-
tigated for four different graphite cathodes under a variable
transverse magnetic field.
11. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The experimental setup used in this, work is shown in Fig. 1
andl consists of a spherical chamber (23 cm in diameter), a
graphite strip (50 mm x 10 mm x 3 mm) used as a cathode
andl mounted parallel to a copper anode (50 mm x 20 mm
~~
The authors are with the Plasma Technology Research Center (CRTP),
Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada H3A 2A7 (e-mail: jeanluc@chemeng.lan.mcgill.ca).
x 5 mm). The pulsed arc burns betbveen the electrodes with
a 5 mmgap, it is triggered using a C02-TEA laser pulse
system producing an infrared radiation at 10.6 pm, 200 ns, and Publisher ItemIdentifier S 0093-38 13(96)03526-6.
0093-3813/96$05.00 0 1996 IEEE
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524 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 24, NO. 2, APRIL 1996
LENS
MIRROR ,
[ CO2 L A s q
TO PUMP
;P
i APS
Fig. 1. Experimental setup, C =cathode, A =anode, -14=magnet, T H =
thyristor switching circuitry, APS =arc power supply, and CP =capacitor.
maximum power of 1 MW. Vacuum(lop4 torr) was produced
using mechanical and oil diffusion pumps, the pressure was
kept constant throughout the study. The square arc current and
voltage pulses were measured as a function of time using an
oscilloscope. The mean velocity of the moving arc is measured
by dividing the arc trace length by the arc duration time. The
thyristor based electrical circuit used in this system allows
to adjust the arc duration time between 100 ps and 14 ms
over which a constant current was maintained (square current
pulse). The arc spot was moved over the cathode surface in the
retrograde direction by the influence of a permanent magnet
positioned at the back of the cathode. The different magnetic
field intensities oriented parallel to the cathode surface were
adjusted by varying the distance between the magnet and
the cathode. The erosion rate values in grams per coulombs
were determined by weighting the cathode before and after
the arcing using a microbalance, then dividing the weight
difference by the total electric charge Q =[ I d t passing
through the cathode. Experiments were performed at a constant
total charge of 50 C for each cathode.
Four different types of graphite materials were tested. Table
I gives some important material properties of these cathodes.
Three of these graphite are polycrystalline (ZXF-SQ, AXF-5Q
and PS) with a given pore size, while PYROID graphite has
no porosity. Velocity measurements were repeated three times
for each type of graphite material to ensure reproducibility.
Erosion rate measurements were made using a series of 2.5-5
ms individual arc pulses with a current of 70 A. The number of
pulses was adjusted to yield the total electric charge of 50 C.
18
16
4
2
0.035 0.040 0.045 0.050 0.055 0.060 0.065
MAGNETIC FIELD INTENSITY, Tesla
Fig. 2. Mean arc spot velocity as a function of magnetic field intensity
parallel to the cathode surface for the four types of graphite described in
Table I (lines correspond to linear fitting of the data).
14
12
2
A AXF-SQ
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
ARC SPOT VELOCITY, mls
Erosion rate of the four graphite materials of Fig. 2 as a function of Fig. 3.
the mean arc spot velocity.
spot velocity increasing with an increase in the magnetic field
intensity for all cathodes used in this study. Very different arc
spot velocities at the same magnetic field intensity can also
be observed for the various types of graphite cathodes. The
movement of the arc spot on graphite cathodes was shown
to be very difficult compared to other metallic electrodes [9],
requiring much stronger magnetic field values. The results of
Fig. 2 indicate the choice of the type of graphite being used
has strong effect on the arc spot behavior.
111. RESULTS
A. Effect of Magnetic Field Intensity on Arc Spot Velocity
The mean arc spot velocity is given in Fig. 2 using the
four different graphite cathode materials. One can see the arc
B. Effect of Arc Spot Velocity on Erosion Rate
Fig. 3 shows that for all the above-mentioned graphite
cathodes, increasing the arc spot velocity has the effect of
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KANDAH AND MEUNIER: EROSION STUDY ON GRAPHITE CATHODES
525
lo r
9 -
0 8 -
a
w" 7 -
z
U
v -
z -
3 5 -
s 6 -
8 -
4 -
--
G D l I B4.04 Tesla I
. ZXF-5Q
A AXF-JQ
.
A
v
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ARC SPOT VELOCITY, m/s
Fig. 4. Erosion rate of the four graphite types as a function of arc spot
velocity at a constant magnetic field intensity of 0.04 T.
decreasing the net cathode erosion rate. This was to be
expected, an increase in the arc spot velocity results in a
decrease in the residence time of the spot on a given site of
the cathode, hence a decrease of the localized heating of the
surface. Such a decrease in the local heat load in the cathode
spot zone was shown to reduce the amount and size of the
macroparticles flux emitted by the spot [8]. One can see again
in Fig. 3 the various graphite cathodes leading to different
erosion rate values whatever the spot velocity. Fig. 4 shows
for a constant magnetic field intensity of 0.04 T the very
surprising result that cathodes having higher spot velocities
due to their surface characteristics give rise to the highest
erosion rate. The materials in Fig. 4 follow the order of the list
in Table I. Materials showing the highest erosion rate and spot
velocity have the lowest electrical resistivity and pore sizes,
and also the largest density. The behavior indicated by Fig. 4
may lead to very interesting and important consequences in
view of deposition applications. It was shown previously [8]
that a reduction of the local heat load delivered to a given
site of the graphite cathode through a decrease of the arc
residence time leads to a reduction in the number, the size,
and the width of the size distributions of the emitted graphite
macroparticles. Increasing the arc velocity through a judicious
choice of the graphite material surface characteristics should
possibly result in the same trend of reducing the macroparticle
emissions. Fig. 4, however, indicates that the total erosion rate
is increasing with increasing arc spot velocity for cathodes of
specific types.
C. Effect of Pore Size on Erosion Rate
Increasing the pore size of the graphite material as shown
in Fig. 5 results in a decrease of the erosion rate. This
unexpected result can again be compared to the data reported
by Kandah and Meunier [8], showing that an increase in the
cathode pore size increases the number and size of the emitted
macroparticles. This may indicate that an increase in the pore
size of the cathode could lead to a decrease in the ion emission.
3 - -
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
PORE SIZE, pm
Fig. 5.
a constant magnetic field intensity of 0.04 T.
Erosion rate as a function of pore size for the four graphite types at
D. Cathode Morphology
Figs. 6 and 7 show that under similar operating conditions,
different graphite material properties lead to various spot
movement behavior. Graphite electrodes are characterized by a
very dlifferent arc spot motion even at moderate magnetic field
valuer; when compared to metallic electrodes. This is shown
in the photograph of Fig. 6 giving the erosion traces over
three graphite materials. One can see, however, that materials
with low pore size tend to generate a more important random
movement of the spots, in a way similar to metallic electrodes.
The dlifferent behaviors on Figs. 6 andl 7 are typical of the
given materials.
Fig. 7 shows arc traces when a magnetic field of 0.04 T is
applied. These traces are the result of only one arc discharge
on each cathode sample given. One can see the arc splitting
into a multiple spot arc root at a current value somewhere
between 110 A and 160 A for the PYRClID graphite. A higher
current of 200 A, however, still results i m a single spot arc on
the ZXF-5Q cathode. Again, this stresses the importance of
the graphite cathode material properties on the cathode spot
characteristics for this material.
IV. DISCUSSION
The erosion rate for carbon cathode measured by Kimblin
[lo] is 1.7 x g/C. This value, however, is shown here to
depend heavily on the cathode material characteristics. In this
work attention was focused on the effect of different graphite
material properties on the spot behavior and the erosion rate.
One can see from Fig. 2 that arc spot velocity depends strongly
on the surface properties of the different graphite cathodes.
The order of the various graphite for decreasing spot velocity
follows that of Table I for their structural and electrical
properties. In the absence of any external disturbance on any
continuous homogeneous metallic surface, an arc spot typically
moveis randomly over the surface of the cathode [ll], [12]. If
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526
F- PS
ZXP-SQ 1 0.2
- - la, t =2 d I=$OA
1.8 1650
Fig. 6.
graphite types at zero magnetic field intensity.
Photographs showing the behavior of the arc spot over three different
m - w
ps
the graphite vacuum arc encounters a discontinuity, such as
a crack or a large pore, one might expect a relative low arc
spot velocity will be observed due to the repetitive formation
of craters in a limited area. As a consequence the local energy
density on the surface would be increased and a deep crater
formed, reducing the motion of the spot and increasing the
erosion rate [SI.
Two different parameters are used here to increase the
graphite arc spot velocity, the external magnetic field, and
the surface characteristics of the cathode. Each was shown
to have different and opposite effect on the erosion rate. This
work indicates that an increase in the arc spot velocity resulting
from a change in the graphite cathode surface properties leads
to an increase in the total erosion rate. A decrease of the
arc residence time on a given site of the cathode was shown
previously to result in a decrease of the emitted macroparticles
[SI. Combining these two effects could eventually lead to
an increase in the fraction of carbon ions emitted. Larger
deposition rates in arc ion-plating systems together with lower
macroparticles content in the films can thus be expected. An
increase of the arc spot velocity induced by a change in the
5 0.8 1.8 1400
5 1.2 1.33 2900
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 24, NO. 2, APRIL 1996
PY
I =
I C
Fig. 7. Photographs showing the behavior of the arc spot over three different
graphite types at a magnetic field intensity of 0.04 T and different arc currents.
Arc movement is downwards, with laser ignition at the top.
TABLE I
PROPERTIES OF GRAPHITE CATHODES USED IN THIS WORK
()Lohm.cm)
PYROID eoomSpeddty Mi neral s Inc., ZXF-SQ, AXI-5Q and PS fmm Pow Graphite Inc
applied external magnetic field was shown here to reduce the
total erosion rate. The shorter residence time of the arc spot
on a given site should, however, also correspond to a decrease
in the emitted macroparticles [SI.
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KANDAH AND MEUNIER: EROSION STUDY ON GRAPHITE CATHODES 521
v. CONCLUSION [9] M. Kandah, Droplets generation mecha.nisms by graphite cathodes
in the vacuum arc deposition technique, M.S. thesis, McGill Univ.,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1993.
[lo] C. W. Kimblin, Erosion and ionization in, the cathode spot regions of
vacuumarcs, J. Appl. Phys., vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 3074-3081, 1973.
Four graphite materials having various physical, mechan-
ical, and electrical properties -reveal in this study different
cathode spot behavior and erosion rate values. Erosion rate
, , , y, Fang, spot velocity of vacuum arcs,3, J, Phys, D: Appl,
for these graphite materials are ranging from 1.02 x
g/C
.Phys., vol. 15, pp. 833-844, 1982.
to 1.24 10-4 g/c and strongly depend on the type of graphite
[12] J . E. Daalder, Randomwalk of cathode arc spots in vacuum, J. Phys.
,D: Appl. Phys., vol. 16, pp. 17-27, 1983.
and the arc spot velocity. Cathodes showing less surface dis-
continuities, e.g., higher density and smaller pore sizes, show
higher spot velocities and highier erosion rates. This should
possibly lead also to a lower macroparticles emission from
the cathode. In addition, these cathodes are expected to show
a larger fraction of the total erosion rate transported by the
ion flux. The trend toward higher spot velocities and erosion
rates also correlates with a lower electrical resistivity of the
graphite material at room temperature. For any given graphite
structure, however, an increase in spot velocity induced by
higher magnetic field intensity results in a reduction of the
erosion rate.
REFEREINCES
[I ] D. J . Page, Industriul Graphite Engineering Handbook, UCAR Carbon
Co.. Inc.. 1991.
A. W. Koch, A. W. Nurnberg, and R. Behrisch, Investigation of
vacuumarcs on graohite cathodes. J. Nucl. Mat.. vols. 122 and 123,
pp. 1437-1439, Ibs4.
W. D. Davis and H. C. Miller, Analysis of the electrode products
emitted by dc arcs in a vacuumambient, J. Appl. Phys., vol. 40, no.
5, pp. 2212-2221, Apr. 1969.
A. A. Plyntto, V. N. Ryzhkov, ancl A. T. Kapin, High speed streams in
vacuumarcs, Sov. Phys.-JETP, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 328-337, Feb. 1965.
T. Utsumi, Measurements of cathode spot temperature in vacuumarcs,
Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 218-220, Mar. 1971.
Y. Y. Udris, Disintegration of materials by an arc cathode spot, Radio
Eng. Electron Phys., vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 1050-1056, 1963.
B. N. Klyarfeld, N. A. Neretina, and N. N. Druzhinina, Metal
sputtering by the cathode spot of a vacuumarc, Sov. Phys.-Tech. Phys.,
vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 796799, Dec. 1969.
M. Kandah and J.-L. Meunier, Study of microdroplets generation from
vacuumarcs on graphite cathodes, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, vol. 13, no.
5, pp. 2444-2450, Sept./Oct. 1995.
Munther Kandah was born in J ordan on J an-
uary 21, 1964. He received the B.Eng. and M.Eng.
degrees in chemical engineering from Yarmouk Uni-
versity, J ordan, in 1987, and McGill University,
Montrkal, QuCbec, Canada, in 1993, respectively
He is currently with the Chemical Engineering De-
partment at McGill University pursuing the Ph D
degree
He worked in the J ordanian Army as a Chemical
Engineer from 1988 lo 1990 and at the J ordan
University of Science and Technology (J UST) as
a Teaching and Research Assistant from1990 to 1991 His research interests
include diamond-like coatings using vacuumarc technology
Jean-Luc Meunier (S83-M85) was bomin Acton
Vale, Qutbec, Canada, on J uly 2, 1956. He received
the engineenng degree in physics at Ecole Polytech-
nique FCdCralede Lausmne (EPFL), Switzerland, in
1981, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in plasma
physics from the Institut National de la Recherche
Scientifique (INRS-Enrrgie) of Quebec, Canada, in
1982 and 1986, respectively.
He worked as a Resrarch Engineer at the Hydro-
Quebec Research Institute (IREQ) from 1985 to
1986, where his research and development areas
included vacuumarcs, and plasma torch development and control. He then
joined McGill University, Montreal, Qukbec, as a Research Associate from
1986 to 1990 He is presently an Assistant Professor in the Chemical
Engineering Department of McGill University, where he is engaged in
teaching and research in the areas of thermal plasma and vacuum arc
deposition
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