DEPOSITION OF SMOOTH TETRAHEDRAL AMORPHOUS-CARBON THIN-FILMS USING A CATHODIC ARC WITHOUT A MACROPARTICLE FILTER

It is shown that for a cathode consisting of compressed graphite powde r, the cathodic are discharge is confined within deep erosion holes an d the macroparticle emission is greatly reduced. Electron energy loss spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy show that smooth tetrahe dral amorphous carbon films with up to 85+/-10% sp(3) bonding can be d eposited without the use of magnetic filters. The new carbon are disch arge process holds potential for deposition of smooth tetrahedral amor phous carbon films on large area substrates due to the elimination of the magnetic filtering stage. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.