The general possibility of the extended (∼30 cm) closed-drift
ion source application for deposition of wear-resistant amorphous
hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films on large-area dielectric
substrates, in particular, on carbon-fiber plastic, is shown.
Parameters of the “ion” and the “plasma”
regimes of the ion source operation in argon and methane are
defined. It is shown that the ion current nonuniformity is in
the range of ±5–15% depending on the operation
mode. Optimum conditions for the substrate precleaning in argon
and hard, well-adhered a-C:H films deposition from methane are
determined. The films are characterized by high hardness (∼11
GPa) and low surface roughness (∼0.13 nm) that leads to
a several times lower friction coefficient (0.05) and wear rate
(0.001 μm3m−1N−1)
compared to glass and carbon-fiber plastic substrates.