Low stress tetrahedral amorphous carbon films prepared by filtered vacuum arc deposition

The tetrahedral amorphous carbon films are attracting materials because of their properties similar to diamond, such as high hardness, resistivity, optical transparency, chemical inertness and low coefficient of friction. These properties make it ideal for wear resistance application on cutting tools, automotive component, aerospace components and orthopedic prosthesis etc. In this paper the structures, mechanical properties and wear resistance of the tetrahedral amorphous carbon films deposited on silicon under lower pulse bias voltage by filtered catholic vacuum arc deposition system have been investigated. The high quality tetrahedral amorphous carbon film has been obtained. The hardness and elastic modulus of the low stress tetrahedral amorphous carbon films are higher than 60Gpa and 380Gpa respectively determined by nano indentation tests. The friction performance of the tetrahedral amorphous carbon films was also studied by SRV tests, the results show: the tetrahedral amorphous carbon films have much lower wear rate than that of silicon substrate.