A review of plasma-assisted deposition methods for amorphous carbon thin and ultrathin films with a focus on the cathodic vacuum arc technique

Abstract

Amorphous carbon (a-C) films have garnered significant attention over the past few decades, principally due to their remarkable thermophysical properties, strong adherence to various materials, and good chemical inertness. These intrinsic characteristics of a-C films have led to their use as protective overcoats in numerous applications, such as hard-disk drives, microelectromechanical systems, and biomedical implants. The significant thinning of a-C films to a few nanometers, dictated by rapid advances in device miniaturization and compactness, motivated the development of thin-film deposition methods that preserve important film attributes like uniformity, strength, and structural stability. This article provides a comprehensive assessment of the most effective deposition techniques for synthesizing ultrathin films, particularly a-C films due to their wide application range as protective overcoats in contemporary technologies, state-of-the-art microanalysis methods for ultrathin films, and the technology challenges that must be overcome for CVA to capture a bigger share of the thin-film technology marketplace.

Deposition of nanometer-thick amorphous carbon films by filtered cathodic vacuum arc under oblique ion incidence conditions

“…Among various thin-film deposition methods [4], filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) is a particularly effective technique for depositing continuous, highly tetrahedral, ultrathin films with excellent mechanical properties [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. An intrinsic feature of FCVA is the development of a plasma comprising energetic ions (e.g., ~20 eV kinetic energy for C + ions [8]), which can be accelerated by applying a negative bias voltage to the substrate.…”

Effects of Target-Substrate Distance on Growth and Mechanical Characteristics of Nanodiamond Composite Coatings Fabricated by Coaxial Arc Plasma Deposition on WC-Co Substrate

“…The demand for a new alternative hard carbon coating that combines the high hardness and thickness of diamond films with the low surface roughness and costeffectiveness of hard DLC is crucial to enhance the performance of cutting tools while remaining ecofriendly [25,26]. Nanostructured NDC films, which consist of countless diamond crystals with diameters below 10 nm encapsulated in a hard a-C matrix, present a promising solution [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37].…”