a-C:H films deposited in the plasma of barrier and surface discharges at atmospheric pressure

The aim of this work is the synthesis of the diamond-like coatings in a barrier and surface discharges at the atmospheric pressure and the investigation of their properties. The best characteristics had the coatings obtained from methane (the ratio of hydrogen atoms to carbon atoms is H/C=1.04, the ratio of the diamond-like and graphite-like C-C bonds sp(3):sp(2)=100%:0%) and from the acetylene and hydrogen mixture (1:19) (H/C=0.73, sp(3):sp(2)=68%:32%) in barrier discharge, as well as from methane in surface discharge (H/C=0.69-1.03, sp(3):sp(2)=78%:22%). By their chemical and phase composition these coatings are close to the diamond-like hydrogenated (a-C:H) films obtained by traditional methods of plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition at low pressure (<10 Torr). At the same time proposed methods for fast deposition of a-C:H films make this process less expensive compared to the conventional techniques, which implies that the field of application of these films can be widened substantially. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.