Diamond-like carbon

Dome coated with DLC for optical and tribological purposes.

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 such properties.^[1]

DLC exists in seven different forms.^[2] 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 uses a cubic lattice, while the less common one, lonsdaleite, has a hexagonal lattice. By mixing these polytypes at the nanoscale, 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 tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C).^[3] Ta-C can be considered to be the "pure" form of DLC, since it consists almost entirely 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.^[4]^[5]

The various forms of DLC can be applied to almost any material that is compatible with a vacuum environment.

^ Robertson, J. (2002). "Diamond-like amorphous carbon". Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports. 37 (4–6): 129–281. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.620.3187. doi:10.1016/S0927-796X(02)00005-0. S2CID 135487365.
^ "Name Index of Carbon Coatings". Archived from the original on January 20, 2007.
^ Lijie Tan, Hongwei Sheng, Hongbo Lou, Benyuan Cheng (February 6, 2020). "High-Pressure Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon Synthesized by Compressing Glassy Carbon at Room Temperature". J. Phys. Chem. C. 124 (9): 5489–5494. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c00247. S2CID 214245976.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Kržan, B.; et al. (2009). "Tribological behavior of tungsten-doped DLC coating under oil lubrication". Tribology International. 42 (2): 229–235. doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2008.06.011.
^ Evtukh, A.A.; et al. (2001). "Silicon doped diamond-like carbon films as a coating for improvement of electron field emission". IVMC 2001. Proceedings of the 14th International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference (Cat. No.01TH8586). p. 295. doi:10.1109/IVMC.2001.939770. ISBN 978-0-7803-7197-2. S2CID 135559981.

[1] Robertson, J. (2002). "Diamond-like amorphous carbon". Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports. 37 (4–6): 129–281. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.620.3187. doi:10.1016/S0927-796X(02)00005-0. S2CID 135487365.

[2] "Name Index of Carbon Coatings". Archived from the original on January 20, 2007.

[Tan-3] Lijie Tan, Hongwei Sheng, Hongbo Lou, Benyuan Cheng (February 6, 2020). "High-Pressure Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon Synthesized by Compressing Glassy Carbon at Room Temperature". J. Phys. Chem. C. 124 (9): 5489–5494. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c00247. S2CID 214245976.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[4] Kržan, B.; et al. (2009). "Tribological behavior of tungsten-doped DLC coating under oil lubrication". Tribology International. 42 (2): 229–235. doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2008.06.011.

[5] Evtukh, A.A.; et al. (2001). "Silicon doped diamond-like carbon films as a coating for improvement of electron field emission". IVMC 2001. Proceedings of the 14th International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference (Cat. No.01TH8586). p. 295. doi:10.1109/IVMC.2001.939770. ISBN 978-0-7803-7197-2. S2CID 135559981.

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