System for deposition of diamond like a-C:H films in Ar-C2H2 plasma with ion beam assistance

Abstract

The paper presents a system which comprises a gas plasma source and an ion source and allows surface treatment of dielectrics due to ion charge compensation by plasma electrons. The ion energy corresponds to the discharge voltage of the ion source. The hardness of a-C:H coatings deposited by the method is up to 40–45 GPa.