Mass Density as Basis Parameter on Mechanical Properties under Diamond-Like Carbon Prepared in Wide Range of Conditions Using Variety of Methods

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were prepared on steel substrates by eleven suppliers using different types of equipment utilized in each company's own coating formation process. The deposition methods include sputtering, electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), arc ion plating (Arc), filtered arc deposition (FAD), and plasma-based ion implantation (PBII). Some correlation of mechanical properties seems to be valid in a narrow range of parameters produced by a particular deposition method. In order to investigate general correlations in a wide range of parameters, various DLC films were prepared by different suppliers on the same substrate, and were evaluated in exactly the same manner. Independent of deposition methods, there existed correlations of the hardness, elastic modulus and Raman shift with a wide range of mass density.