Atmospheric plasma deposition of diamond-like carbon coatings

The atmospheric pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of diamond-like carbon (DLC) has been investigated. The DLC coatings were grown with a mixture of acetylene, hydrogen and helium that was fed through a linear plasma source. The plasma was driven with radio frequency power at 27.12 MHz. Deposition rates exceeded 0.10 mu m/min at substrate temperatures between 155 and 200 degrees C. Solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance revealed that the coatings contained approximately 43% sp(2)-bonded carbon and 57% sp(3)-bonded carbon. Coefficient of friction values for the coatings were found to be 0.24 +/- 0.02, which is within the range observed for vacuum deposited DLC. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.