Characterization of amorphous carbon films grown by a vacuum arc discharge

M. FAZIO; E. HALAC; L. VACA; A. MARQUEZ

João Pessoa

Congreso; SBPMat 2014; 2014

Sociedad Brasilera de Pesquisa de Materiales

Amorphous carbon films with diamond-like bonds have been widely studied due to their interesting physical and chemical properties, such as high hardness, low static and dynamic friction coefficient, optical transparency, high thermal conductivity and biocompatibility. These coatings are mainly synthesized by methods of chemical vapor deposition. Vacuum arcs are an attractive alternative due to their simplicity, high growth rate and the properties of the films produced. In this work non hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a:C) films grown by a dc vacuum arc discharge were studied. The arc is produced between a high purity graphite cathode of 8 cm diameter and the vacuum chamber that acts as the anode. The discharge produces a carbon plasma that condensates on a grounded substrate. The arc current was run at 75 A, and a magnetic filter was used to avoid the presence of macroparticles on the coatings. The films were grown on 316L stainless steel and silicon substrates. The coatings were characterized for different settings of the magnetic filter. The structure of the films was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and the morphology by scanning electron microscopy.