STUDY OF THE OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF DIAMOND-LIKE COATINGS PREPARED BY LASER-ARC

The Laser-Arc as a controlled pulsed arc plasma source was used to pre pare diamond-like coatings (DLC) for optical applications. DLC films w ith a thickness of up to 500 nm were deposited on different substrate materials (ZnSe, NaCl, KCl, Ge) using special preparation techniques f or enhancing the substrate-film adhesion. Coating was performed at roo m temperature in a vacuum of 10(-4) Pa. A special moving substrate hol der was used to deposit an all-round protective DLC that covered the c omplete surface of the salt substrates including the rims. The optical properties of the coating were determined by spectrophotometry and la ser calorimetry. On the basis of the photometric transmission measurem ents, the refractive indices were calculated. The optical absorption a t 10.6 mu m ranges from 200 to 900 cm(-1) and depends on the film thic kness and on the substrate material. The results demonstrate that the controlled arc evaporation by Laser-Arc is suitable for the preparatio n of DLC with optical quality.