Abstract: The invention relates to a vacuum arc evaporator with which a wide variety of substrates can be provided with various coatings or to which various systems of layers can be applied. The invention is intended to achieve an improvement in the quality of the layer, with increased material utilization and higher coating rate. A vacuum arc evaporator with a cathode of electrically conducting material and an anode for generating a plasma arranged in an evacuable housing is used for this purpose. The plasma is generated by an evaporation of the cathode material by means of arc discharge. The anode is enclosed by an insulator and is otherwise surrounded by cathode material on all sides.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process and a device for metallization of semiconductor structures, with which areas of the surface can be connected to be electrically conductive using strip conductors in one or a plurality of planes, and contacts between the strip conductors of different planes. The process for producing metallic coatings on semiconductor structures by depositing from a vapor phase under vacuum, in trenches produced for the strip conductors and holes for strip conductor connection in the substrate material such as SiO2 or other inorganic and organic materials is characterized in that a known per se pulsed vacuum-arc evaporator is used, a barrier layer being deposited on the surface of the trenches and holes of the substrates using the plasma of the evaporator and/or the trenches and holes being filled with low-impedance strip conductor material from a further plasma of said type of evaporator.

Abstract: A process and an apparatus that can be used for surface preparation and treatment of a metal workpiece surface, for example in a processing stage prior to adhesive assembly, without using environmentally harmful materials. The process comprises triggering and maintaining pulsed unipolar arc discharges between an electrode wired as an anode and a workpiece surface wired as a cathode, with the arc discharges following one another with a timing, number, and speed such that they do not cause macroscopic melting of the workpiece surface while ensuring complete extinction of the individual arc discharges. The apparatus comprises an electrode as the anode and the workpiece as the cathode, and a generator or component for generating electrical pulses.