Ionic Distribution in Plasma for the Process of Electron-Beam Physical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

This paper investigates ionic distribution generated by electron beam (EB) during Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). EB-PVD has a wide range of applications in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) due to favorable characteristics compared with other coating processes. EB-PVD is an important material coating method that utilizes electron beams as heat sources to evaporate materials, which are then deposited on a substrate. Therefore EB-induced ionic distribution dominates the quality and thickness of the final coating on the substrate. Assuming the EB-generated plasma to be only a function of radial direction, the steady-state equations of continuity and motion combined with Posson’s equation were utilized to analyze the plasma distributions along the radial direction. The available experimental data are also used to validate the model. The results show that the coating efficiency can be improved by decreasing the ratio of the electron thermal energy to the initial ion energy and increasing the ratio of the initial ion density to the initial electron density. The uniformity of coating can be achieved by reducing the initial ion density.