Deposition of coatings upon substrates utilising a high pressure, non-local thermal equilibrium arc plasma

摘要

A process for the coating of a substrate characterised in that it comprises:generating a non-LTE arc plasma at a pressure of greater than 0.1 atmospheres;introducing a coating material into the arc plasma; andpositioning a substrate proximate to the arc plasma, activated species of the coating material formed by the arc plasma contacting the substrate to form a coating is disclosed.In certain embodiments of the present process, a semiconductor or a photovoltaic semiconductor may be produced. The present invention offers advantages over the prior art.