Patent ID: 6855237

Claim:
A pulsed carbon plasma apparatus for depositing a diamond-like carbon coating on an object, comprising: (a) a consumable graphite cathode and an anode, both accommodated in a vacuum chamber and having a common geometrical axis, the consumable graphite cathode and the anode being electrically coupled to a capacitive storage shunted to a dc charger, (b) an arc striking device disposed in the vacuum chamber and connected to an initiation unit, (c) a device for scanning a carbon plasma flow over a surface of the object, the scanning device having at least one pair of deflecting coils arranged in the vacuum chamber so that the geometrical axes of the deflecting coils are aligned with the geometrical axis of the cathode and the anode, and wound in one direction, one output of each coil in the pair of deflecting coils being connected to the anode, and another output being connected, via a controlled switch, to a positive output of the capacitive storage, each of the deflecting coils having, in a scanning plane passing through the geometrical axis, a different number of turns on opposite sides so that a number of turns on one side of the deflecting coil is n, and a number of turns on the other side is (n+1), where n is an integer of 1, 2 or 3, the deflecting coils in said at least one pair being turned relative to each other through 180° around the geometrical axes so that in the scanning plane the number of turns on one side of one of the coils is different from the number of turns on the same side of the other coil.