Influence of substrate bias on the mechanical properties of ta-C:Co films prepared by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique

Cobalt-containing tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C:Co) films were deposited by an off-plane double-bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) technique on silicon wafers at room temperature. The mechanical properties of the ta-C:Co films were systematically studied. Such metal composite coatings exhibit reduced stress, thus enabling the deposition of relatively thick coatings whilst retaining acceptable hardness.