CARBON-FILMS DEPOSITED BY THE PHYSICAL VAPOR-DEPOSITION FOCUSED-ARC EVAPORATION TECHNIQUE

Diamond-like carbon was physically vapour deposited on various substra tes using an enhanced cathodic are plasma in Ar, H-2 and/or CH4. The e nhanced evaporator allows diamond-like coating deposition with a bette r surface finish than a conventional vacuum are system does; the size of the macroparticles did not exceed 0.3 mu m. Emphasis is put on the evaporator design and its capabilities. The plasma species were identi fied by optical emission spectroscopy while carbon coatings were chara cterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and elect ron spectroscopy for chemical analysis.