Online detection system and method for pulsed arc ion plating

Abstract

The invention discloses an online detection system and method for pulsed arc ion plating. The system is characterized in that a workbench for placing a workpiece is arranged in a vacuum chamber; a pulsed arc ion source is arranged on one side of the workbench, and a visual camera is arranged on the other side of the workbench; the industrial personal computer electrically controls the pulsed arc ion source and the visual camera to act, and the pulsed arc ion source releases ion pulses towards the workpiece for coating; the visual camera collects an image of the ionization process of the pulsed arc ion source and sends the image to the industrial personal computer; the industrial personal computer judges the effectiveness of ion pulses released by the pulsed arc ion source on workpiece coating according to the image; the brightness of the pulsed arc ion source is monitored by using the visual camera, the coating process is automatically adjusted according to the monitoring result, and the stability and precision of the coating process are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of ion plating, and in particular relates to an online detection system and method for pulse arc ion plating. Background Art

[0002] Pulse arc power supplies and pulse arc ion sources are widely used in industrial fields, such as the preparation of semiconductors, optical components, decorative coatings and protective layers. Different from traditional DC arc pulse arc ion sources, the coating quality of pulse arc ion sources depends on the success rate of arc discharge times. Due to abnormal phenomena such as arc extinguishing or arcing, the arc discharge success rate of pulse arc ion sources often cannot reach 100%. Therefore, in order to ensure the quality of coating, it is often necessary to rely on manual experience for monitoring and adjustment. Operators judge the coating effect by regularly checking the equipment status or observing the finished workpiece. These methods have significant limitations and uncertainties.

[0003] Traditional monitoring methods cannot monitor the working status of the pulse arc ion source in real time, especially during the coating process, the parameters of the pulse arc ion source arc discharge may fluctuate, resulting in uneven coating thickness on the workpiece surface, uneven distribution of coating materials, and arc instability. These problems not only affect product quality, but also increase the scrap rate and production costs in the production process, and may even cause additional losses to process equipment. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an online detection system and method for pulse arc ion plating, which uses a visual camera to monitor the brightness of the pulse arc ion source, automatically adjusts the plating process according to the monitoring results, and improves the stability and accuracy of the plating process.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: In the first aspect, the present invention provides an online detection system for pulse arc ion plating, comprising a vacuum chamber; a workbench for placing workpieces is provided in the vacuum chamber; a pulse arc ion source is provided on one side of the workbench, and a visual camera is provided on the other side of the workbench; an industrial computer electrically controls the movement of the pulse arc ion source and the visual camera, the pulse arc ion source releases ion pulses toward the workpiece for plating; the visual camera collects images of the ionization process of the pulse arc ion source and sends them to the industrial computer; the industrial computer determines the effectiveness of the ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source on the workpiece plating based on the images.

[0006] Furthermore, the frequency of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source is equal to the acquisition frequency of the visual camera.

[0007] Furthermore, the pulse arc ion source is equipped with a pulse power supply, the pulse power supply is electrically connected to the industrial computer, and the industrial computer controls the discharge frequency of the pulse power supply.

[0008] Furthermore, the vacuum chamber is provided with an observation window; the visual camera is arranged outside the observation window, and the visual camera captures the image of the pulse arc ion source ionization process through the observation window.

[0009] Furthermore, at least one vacuum pump is disposed at a corner of the vacuum chamber, and the vacuum pump is electrically connected to the industrial computer; the industrial computer controls the switch and output power of the vacuum pump.

[0010] Furthermore, the industrial computer converts the image into a grayscale image, counts the number of pixels in the grayscale image whose grayscale values ​​are higher than a set threshold value K, and records them as the number of bright pixels; calculates the ratio of the number of bright pixels in the grayscale image to the total number of pixels to obtain the arc brightness b; The arc brightness b is compared with the threshold L. When the arc brightness b is greater than or equal to the threshold L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is effective for workpiece coating; when the arc brightness b is less than the threshold L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is ineffective for workpiece coating.

[0011] Furthermore, the industrial computer updates a preset pulse number n according to the number of invalid ion pulse releases of the pulse arc ion source; the pulse number n is the total number of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source during the workpiece coating process.

[0012] In a second aspect, the present invention provides an online detection method for pulse arc ion plating, which is performed by using the online detection system described in the first aspect. The online detection method includes: The pulse arc ion source is controlled to release ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating, and the visual camera collects images of the ionization process of the pulse arc ion source; The image is converted into a grayscale image, and the number of pixels in the grayscale image whose grayscale value is higher than a set threshold value K is counted, which is recorded as the number of bright pixels; the ratio of the number of bright pixels in the grayscale image to the total number of pixels is calculated to obtain the arc brightness b; The arc brightness b is compared with the threshold L. When the arc brightness b is greater than or equal to the threshold L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is effective for workpiece coating; when the arc brightness b is less than the threshold L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is ineffective for workpiece coating.

[0013] Furthermore, the initial value of the pulse number n is obtained, which is recorded as the initial pulse number ; Update the preset pulse number n according to the number of invalid ion pulse releases of the pulse arc ion source; the pulse number n is the total number of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source during the workpiece coating process.

[0014] Furthermore, the number of effective ion pulse releases x of the pulse arc ion source and the number of executions m of ion pulse releases by the pulse arc ion source are counted; When the effective release times x of the pulse arc ion source reaches the initial pulse times , and the number of executions m of the pulse arc ion source releasing ion pulses reaches the currently updated number of pulses n, it is determined that the coating on the workpiece is completed; and the pulse arc ion source is repeatedly controlled to release ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: The pulse arc ion source of the present invention releases ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating; the visual camera collects images of the ionization process of the pulse arc ion source and sends them to an industrial computer; the industrial computer determines the effectiveness of the ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source for coating the workpiece based on the images; the visual camera is used to monitor the brightness of the pulse arc ion source, and the coating process is automatically adjusted based on the monitoring results, thereby improving the stability and accuracy of the coating process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a structural diagram of an online detection system for pulse arc ion plating provided in Example 1; Figure 2 is a flow chart of an online detection method for pulse arc ion plating provided in this embodiment 1; In the figure, 1 is a vacuum chamber, 2 is a pulse arc ion source, 3 is a pulse power supply, 4 is an observation window, 5 is an industrial computer, 6 is a visual camera, and 7 is a vacuum pump. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

[0018] It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the directions or positional relationships indicated by the terms "front", "rear", "left", "right", "up", "down", "inside", "outside", etc. are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention rather than requiring the present invention to be constructed and operated in a specific direction, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. The terms "front", "rear", "left", "right", "up", and "down" used in the description of the present invention refer to the directions in the accompanying drawings, and the terms "inside" and "outside" refer to the directions toward or away from the geometric center of a specific component, respectively.

[0019] Example 1 like Figure 1 As shown, an online detection method for pulse arc ion plating includes a vacuum chamber 1; the vacuum chamber 1 is used to provide a pure and controllable coating environment; at least one vacuum pump 7 is arranged at the corner of the vacuum chamber 1, and the vacuum pump 7 is connected to the vacuum chamber through a pipeline, and is used to extract the gas in the vacuum chamber so that the vacuum chamber reaches and maintains a low-pressure environment to ensure the smooth progress of the coating process; the vacuum pump 7 is electrically connected to an industrial computer 5; the industrial computer 5 controls the switch and output power of the vacuum pump 7.

[0020] A workbench for placing workpieces is provided in the vacuum chamber 1; a pulse arc ion source 2 is provided on one side of the workbench, and a visual camera 6 is provided on the other side of the workbench; the pulse arc ion source 2 is fixed to the side wall of the vacuum chamber 1 by bolts, and is mainly used to generate a high-speed ion flow; the pulse arc ion source 2 is equipped with a pulse power supply 3; the voltage of the pulse power supply 3 is adjustable at 100-500V, the frequency is adjustable at 1-20Hz, and the number of pulses is adjustable at 1-999999.

[0021] The pulse power supply 3 is used to provide energy for the pulse arc ion source 2 and control the deposition rate during the process of the pulse arc ion source 2 generating plasma; the pulse power supply 3 is electrically connected to the industrial computer 5, and the industrial computer 5 controls the discharge frequency of the pulse power supply 3, and the pulse arc ion source 2 releases ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating; The vacuum chamber 1 is provided with an observation window 4, on which a sealing glass is provided; the visual camera 6 is arranged outside the observation window 4, and the visual camera 6 captures an image of the ionization process of the pulse arc ion source 2 through the observation window 4, and sends the collected image to the industrial computer 5; the present embodiment can monitor the brightness of the pulse arc ion source in real time through the visual camera, detect abnormalities in time, and improve the real-time performance and response speed of the detection.

[0022] The industrial computer 5 determines the effectiveness of the ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source 2 on the workpiece coating according to the image, and the process includes: The industrial computer 5 converts the image into a grayscale image, counts the number of pixels in the grayscale image whose grayscale value is higher than a set threshold value K, and records it as the number of bright pixels; calculates the ratio of the number of bright pixels in the grayscale image to the total number of pixels to obtain the arc brightness b; The arc brightness b is compared with the threshold value L. When the arc brightness b is greater than or equal to the threshold value L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source 2 is effective for the workpiece coating; when the arc brightness b is less than the threshold value L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source 2 is ineffective for the workpiece coating. This embodiment uses image processing technology to accurately calculate the brightness percentage in the grayscale image, ensure the accurate judgment of the working state of the pulse arc ion source, and improve the stability of the coating quality.

[0023] The industrial computer 5 updates the preset pulse number n according to the number of invalid ion pulse releases of the pulse arc ion source; the pulse number n is the total number of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source during the workpiece coating process; this embodiment uses a visual camera to monitor the brightness of the pulse arc ion source, and automatically adjusts the coating process according to the monitoring results to improve the stability and accuracy of the coating process.

[0024] Example 2 like Figure 2 As shown, an online detection method for pulse arc ion plating is performed using the online detection system described in Example 1. The online detection method includes: Get the initial value of the pulse number n, recorded as the initial pulse number ; Control the pulse arc ion source 2 to release ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating, and collect images of the ionization process of the pulse arc ion source through the visual camera 6; The image is converted into a grayscale image, and the number of pixels in the grayscale image whose grayscale value is higher than a set threshold value K is counted, which is recorded as the number of bright pixels; the ratio of the number of bright pixels in the grayscale image to the total number of pixels is calculated to obtain the arc brightness b; The arc brightness b is compared with the threshold value L. When the arc brightness b is greater than or equal to the threshold value L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source 2 is effective for the workpiece coating; when the arc brightness b is less than the threshold value L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source 2 is ineffective for the workpiece coating. This embodiment uses image processing technology to accurately calculate the brightness percentage in the grayscale image, ensure the accurate judgment of the working state of the pulse arc ion source, and improve the stability of the coating quality.

[0025] According to the number of invalid releases of ion pulses of the pulse arc ion source, the preset number of pulses n is updated; the number of pulses n is the total number of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source during the coating process of the workpiece; the present embodiment uses a visual camera to monitor the brightness of the pulse arc ion source, and automatically adjusts the coating process according to the monitoring results, thereby improving the stability and accuracy of the coating process.

[0026] Count the number of effective ion pulse releases x of the pulse arc ion source and the number of executions m of ion pulse releases by the pulse arc ion source; when the number of effective ion pulse releases x of the pulse arc ion source reaches the initial number of pulses , and the number of executions m of the pulse arc ion source releasing ion pulses reaches the currently updated number of pulses n, it is determined that the coating on the workpiece is completed; repeatedly controlling the pulse arc ion source to release ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating; This implementation combines the automated processing of an industrial computer and can automatically adjust pulse signals and coating parameters according to brightness changes, reducing manual intervention. It has a wide range of applications and is not limited to specific working conditions, thus improving the versatility of the technology.

[0027] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An online detection system for pulse arc ion plating, characterized in that: It comprises a vacuum chamber; a workbench for placing workpieces is arranged in the vacuum chamber; a pulse arc ion source is arranged on one side of the workbench, and a visual camera is arranged on the other side of the workbench; an industrial control computer electrically controls the movement of the pulse arc ion source and the visual camera, and the pulse arc ion source releases ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating; the visual camera collects images of the ionization process of the pulse arc ion source and sends them to the industrial control computer; The industrial computer determines the effectiveness of the ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source on the coating of the workpiece according to the image.

2. The online detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frequency of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source is equal to the acquisition frequency of the visual camera.

3. The online detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pulse arc ion source is equipped with a pulse power supply, the pulse power supply is electrically connected to the industrial computer, and the industrial computer controls the discharge frequency of the pulse power supply.

4. The online detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vacuum chamber is provided with an observation window; the visual camera is arranged outside the observation window, and the visual camera takes images of the ionization process of the pulse arc ion source through the observation window.

5. The online detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least one vacuum pump is arranged at a corner of the vacuum chamber, and the vacuum pump is electrically connected to the industrial computer; the industrial computer controls the switch and output power of the vacuum pump.

6. The online detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The industrial computer converts the image into a grayscale image, counts the number of pixels in the grayscale image whose grayscale value is higher than a set threshold value K, and records it as the number of bright pixels; calculates the ratio of the number of bright pixels in the grayscale image to the total number of pixels to obtain the arc brightness b; Comparing the arc brightness b with the threshold value L, when the arc brightness b is greater than or equal to the threshold value L, it is determined that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is effective for coating the workpiece; When the arc brightness b is less than the threshold value L, it is determined that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is ineffective for coating the workpiece.

7. The online detection system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The industrial computer updates the preset pulse number n according to the number of invalid ion pulse releases of the pulse arc ion source; the pulse number n is the total number of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source during the workpiece coating process.

8. An online detection method for pulse arc ion plating, characterized in that: An online detection method is performed using the online detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the online detection method comprising: Control the pulse arc ion source to release ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating, and collect images of the pulse arc ion source ionization process through a visual camera; The image is converted into a grayscale image, and the number of pixels in the grayscale image whose grayscale value is higher than a set threshold value K is counted, which is recorded as the number of bright pixels; the ratio of the number of bright pixels in the grayscale image to the total number of pixels is calculated to obtain the arc brightness b; The arc brightness b is compared with the threshold L. When the arc brightness b is greater than or equal to the threshold L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is effective for workpiece coating; when the arc brightness b is less than the threshold L, it is judged that the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source is ineffective for workpiece coating.

9. The online detection method according to claim 7, characterized in that: Get the initial value of the pulse number n, recorded as the initial pulse number ; The preset pulse number n is updated according to the number of invalid ion pulse releases of the pulse arc ion source; the pulse number n is the total number of ion pulses released by the pulse arc ion source during the coating process of the workpiece.

10. The online detection method according to claim 9, characterized in that: Count the number of effective ion pulse releases x of the pulse arc ion source and the number of executions m of ion pulse releases by the pulse arc ion source; When the effective release times x of the pulse arc ion source reaches the initial pulse times , and the execution number m of the ion pulse released by the pulse arc ion source reaches the currently updated pulse number n, it is judged that the coating of the workpiece is completed; The pulsed arc ion source is repeatedly controlled to release ion pulses toward the workpiece for coating.

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