Abstract: For the production of a coating formed by cathode sputtering, a target made from an alloy of gold and preferably vanadium is used. During the cathode sputtering, nitrogen gas is used as the reactive gas. The result is the formation of vanadium nitrides on the substrate to be coated. By varying the nitrogen content, the proportion of the vanadium nitrides can be changed thereby causing the appearance and the hardness of the coating to also change. This change in coating characteristics can accommodate a broad range of requirements avoiding the necessity of using different targets for different coating characteristics.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining the concentration of a gas in a vacuum chamber is described. Internal to the vacuum chamber are one or more cathodes. The chamber is fed via a gas inlet and is connected to a separate measurement chamber for accommodating a measuring device via a connecting line between the two chambers. The connecting line in conjunction with a pumping means produces a pressure gradient between the interior of the vacuum chamber and the interior of the measurement chamber. One end of the connecting line, located within the vacuum chamber terminates directly in the central region of a cathode surfaces facing the interior of the chamber, and the length, as well as the cross section of the connecting line being dimensioned so that the pressure gradient between the interior of the vacuum chamber and the interior of the measurement chamber, is precisely that required for measurement.