Characterization of aluminium coatings deposited in a hollow cathode discharge

An investigation of the effects of a hollow cathode discharge on the characteristics such as film thickness, film structure and adhesion of ion-plated aluminium coatings, was carried out. A hollow cathode discharge was formed between a pair of parallel plates and aluminium coatings about 10μm thick were deposited from a source below the hollow cathode onto the cathode plates. The results show that film thickness and structure are influenced by cathode separation, bias voltage and gas pressure. In all cases, aluminium coatings showed good adhesion to the stainless steel substrate.