Pulse-enhanced vacuum arc evaporation (PEVAE), an advanced version of conventional DC vacuum arc evaporation, generates a high flux of electrons to ionize more gaseous and metallic atoms in the deposition system to facilitate coating deposition. Compared to the conventional DC mode, the highly ionized plasma improves the structure and properties of the coatings deposited by the PEVAE mode. To obtain a better understanding and evaluate the advantages and limitations of this technique, we conduct a comparative study on TiSiCN coatings deposited by the traditional DC mode and PEVAE mode for different target-to-substrate distances (D_t-s) in the reactive environment of HMDSN. The substrate current is determined by an oscilloscope and optical emission is monitored by a miniature fiber-optics spectrometer. The microstructure and properties of the coatings are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, indentation test, nanoindentation, electrochemical measurement, and ball-on-disk wear test. The results demonstrate that the average substrate current increases by 53.8% as D_t-s increases from 200 mm to 300 mm. The pulsed current discharge in the HMDSN atmosphere increases the deposition rates by up to 36.4% and E_bi increases by 29% reflecting a denser microstructure. The PEVAE mode improves the microstructure of the TiSiCN coatings as well as resistance to corrosion and wear. Furthermore, it has good processing adaptability for different target-to-substrate distances.

脉冲增强真空电弧蒸发（PEVAE）是常规DC真空电弧蒸发的高级版本，可产生高电子通量，以使沉积系统中的更多气态和金属原子电离，从而促进涂层沉积。与传统的DC模式相比，高度电离的等离子体改善了PEVAE模式沉积的涂层的结构和性能。为了更好地理解和评估该技术的优势和局限性，我们对传统的DC模式和PEVAE模式沉积的TiSiCN涂层进行了比较研究，以了解不同的目标到基板距离（D _t-s）在HMDSN的反应性环境中。衬底电流由示波器确定，光发射由微型光纤光谱仪监控。涂层的微观结构和性能通过X射线衍射，扫描电子显微镜，X射线光电子能谱，压痕测试，纳米压痕，电化学测量和圆盘磨损测试来表征。结果表明，随着D _t-s从200 mm增加到300 mm ，平均基板电流增加了53.8％。HMDSN气氛中的脉冲电流放电使沉积率提高了36.4％，E _bi增加了29％，反映出更致密的微观结构。PEVAE模式改善了TiSiCN涂层的微观结构以及耐腐蚀和耐磨性。此外，对于不同的目标到基板距离，它具有良好的处理适应性。