Method and apparatus for metal and ceramic nanolayering for accident tolerant nuclear fuel, particle accelerators, and aerospace leading edges

A system comprising:

• a sputter target:
• having a hollow cross section and shaped in the form of a cylinder or a quasi-cylinder, and
• made of sputter target material transferable, in operation of the system, to a substrate;
• and
• a magnetic element array including multiple sets of permanent magnets arranged along an outward face of the sputter target;
• wherein the magnetic element array is positioned relatively outwardly in relation to the sputter target hollow cross section so that, in operation, one or more localized Hall-Effect regions are generated that facilitate magnetron plasma discharge from an inward facing surface of the sputter target,
• wherein each region, of the one or more localized Hall-Effect regions, extends over an effective area of the sputter target to generate 0.1A/cm2 to 10A/cm2 plasma discharge current density in the effective area during a magnetron plasma discharge operation,
• wherein, during a magnetron plasma discharge operation, the system is configured to modify a surface of an object by generating and controlling an ion and neutral particle flux by:
• providing a vacuum apparatus containing a sputter target holder electrode that is electrically attached to the sputter target with an electrical connection and electrical insulation between said sputter target holder and the vacuum apparatus;
• and
• generating a magnetron plasma discharge by applying one or more voltage potential patterns to the sputter target holder electrode;
• wherein the magnetic element array is configured to provide, during operation, the magnetron plasma discharge for performing a direct current high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (direct current HiPIMS) operation,
• wherein a plasma coverage area fraction equals a ratio of a sum total area of the effective area of the one or more localized Hall-Effect regions to an outer surface area of the sputter target facing the magnetic array, and
• wherein the magnetic element array is configured such that the plasma coverage area fraction, during direct current HiPIMS operation, is less than one half.