A simplified arc discharge set-up for high adhesion of DLC coatings

An extremely simple arc discharge unit for producing high-energy carbon plasma ions for the deposition of the adhesion layer of high-quality diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings is presented. The system contains only a simplistic anode–cathode arrangement and the anode–cathode and ignition circuits. The high-ion energies result from high current rise rates of the short arc discharge pulses. In our current system a sufficient rise rate (5·109 A/s) is achieved with 6 kV anode–cathode voltages. However, much lower voltages can be used if low inductance circuits are used. The presented arc discharge set-up has no particle filtering system. The number of particles in a sufficiently thick adhesion layer was 40/mm2, which is acceptable for most applications.