The method of Electron Beam-Physical Vapour Deposition (EB-PVD) for handling large substrates is well
established in the metallurgical industry, where sweeping axisymmetric electron guns or multiple pencil
guns are routinely used to cover a large target area. The non-uniformity in current density in those
methods can be overcome, to a large extent, by using the strip-type electron gun. In this paper, we
propose to use an AC-heated strip-type electron gun to cover large target areas. The magnetic field
generated by the alternating filament current oscillates the beam in a direction parallel to the filament
length, thereby eliminating the need for applying an external electric or magnetic field for sweeping the
beam. The non-uniformity in the current density within the strip electron beam, arising due to finite
length of the filament, is reduced by the use of dummy filaments on both ends of the active filament.
These results are supported by electron trajectory simulations. |