Abstract
The properties of thin tetrahedral amorphous carbon films were evaluated for various deposition conditions using a filtered cathodic vacuum arc process. The most marked change observed in the properties of the films caused by varying the arc current and substrate bias was the change in the compressive stress of the films. It was found that C+ ion energy values ranging from 55 to 75 eV are optimum for obtaining very hard tetrahedral amorphous carbon coatings.