Generation of highly ionized metallic plasma by anodic evaporation in a pulsed discharge

The influence of the parameters of a pulse-periodic (1 ms, 60–450 s$^{-1}$) discharge with a self-heating hollow cathode and an evaporated anode on the density and degree of ionization of the aluminum vapor stream is studied. It is shown that an increase in the current amplitude at a constant average discharge current of 12–16 A leads to a 3–4-fold increase in the film deposition rate, an increase in the proportion of Al$^+$ ions in the vapor stream to 100% at 80 A and increase of the proportion of Al$^+$ ions in the total ion current to 30% at 110 A. A method for determining the proportion of metal ions in a vapor stream by a grid probe with a retarding electrostatic field has been improved.