page_title: Diamond-like carbon
hierarchical_section_title: Diamond-like carbon
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Tetraedrischgebundener amorpher Kohlenstofffilm, hergestellt durch Ionenstrahldeposition an der Universitaet Goettingen. Die blaue Region hat eine Dicke von 80nm, die beige eine Dicke von 40nm. Ueber das Siliziumsubstrat wurde ein abschattender Draht zur Erleichterung der Schichtdickenmessung gespannt. Die helle Aura um die Kohlenstoffschicht ist durch Sputterreinigung des Siliziums mit 1keV Argonionen verursacht. English: Tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin film grown by ion beam deposition at University of Goettingen, Germany. The two colors result from interference at the 80nm (blue) and 40nm (tan) region. The trench was caused by a wire across the substrate to facilitate the thickness measurement. The light aura around the carbon film is the result of a 1keV Argon ion sputter cleaning treatment prior to deposition.
context_page_description: Diamond-like carbon is a class of amorphous carbon material that displays some of the typical properties of diamond. DLC is usually applied as coatings to other materials that could benefit from some of those properties.
  DLC exists in seven different forms. All seven contain significant amounts of sp³ hybridized carbon atoms. The reason that there are different types is that even diamond can be found in two crystalline polytypes. The more common one has its carbon atoms arranged in a cubic lattice, while the less common one, lonsdaleite, has a hexagonal lattice. By mixing these polytypes in various ways at the nanoscale level of structure, DLC coatings can be made that at the same time are amorphous, flexible, and yet purely sp³ bonded "diamond". The hardest, strongest, and slickest is such a mixture, known as tetrahedral amorphous carbon. For example a coating of only 2 μm thickness of ta-C increases the resistance of common stainless steel against abrasive wear, changing its lifetime in such service from one week to 85 years. Such ta-C can be considered to be the "pure" form of DLC, since it consists only of sp³ bonded carbon atoms.
context_section_description: Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a class of amorphous carbon material that displays some of the typical properties of diamond. DLC is usually applied as coatings to other materials that could benefit from some of those properties.
  DLC exists in seven different forms. All seven contain significant amounts of sp³ hybridized carbon atoms. The reason that there are different types is that even diamond can be found in two crystalline polytypes. The more common one has its carbon atoms arranged in a cubic lattice, while the less common one, lonsdaleite, has a hexagonal lattice. By mixing these polytypes in various ways at the nanoscale level of structure, DLC coatings can be made that at the same time are amorphous, flexible, and yet purely sp³ bonded "diamond". The hardest, strongest, and slickest is such a mixture, known as tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C). For example a coating of only 2 μm thickness of ta-C increases the resistance of common (e.g., type 304) stainless steel against abrasive wear, changing its lifetime in such service from one week to 85 years. Such ta-C can be considered to be the "pure" form of DLC, since it consists only of sp³ bonded carbon atoms. Fillers such as hydrogen, graphitic sp² carbon, and metals are used in the other 6 forms to reduce production expenses or to impart other desirable properties.
  The various forms of DLC can be applied to almost any material that is compatible with a vacuum environment. In 2006, the market for outsourced DLC coatings was estimated as about €30,000,000 in the European Union. In October 2011, Science Daily reported that researchers at Stanford University have created a super-hard amorphous diamond under conditions of ultrahigh pressure, which lacks the crystalline structure of diamond but has the light weight characteristic of carbon.
caption: A ta-C thin film on silicon (15 mm diameter) exhibiting regions of 40 nm and 80 nm thickness.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2007:05:22 14:54:28", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "178", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4534", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3743", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:05:22 13:11:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:05:22 13:11:57", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "69/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "53/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-1/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "150", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4368", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2912", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4410", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "873600/283", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1456000/471", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}