Effect of oxygen flow rate on the deposition rate of α-Al2O3 coatings by anodic evaporation of Al in an arc discharge

Abstract

Abstract Effect of O2 flow rate on the kinetics of growth and properties of α-Al2O3 coatings deposited by reactive anodic Al evaporation at 640 °C has been studied. It has been shown that the growth rate of coatings changes non-monotonously with O2 flow, rise of the growth rate is due to the increase in the concentration of atomic oxygen in plasma, and the decrease at large O2 flows is associated with transition from the mode of free transit of Al atoms to the diffusion mode.