Cathodic arc deposition of tetrahedral amorphous carbon: influence of process parameters on microstructure and hardness

摘要

The cathodic arc provides a method for depositing extremely hard thin carbon films. These films are potentially useful in a variety of tribological applications including protection of magnetic media and recording heads. Effective application of this technology requires an improved understanding of the influence of process parameters on the microstructure and hardness of the deposited films. In this work, we use a commercially available filtered cathodic arc to deposit tetrahedral amorphous carbon at several deposition angles.