AMORPHOUS AND DIAMOND-LIKE CARBON FILMS: FROM CURRENT CHALLENGES TO NEW PROMISING APPLICATIONS (A REVIEW)

Amorphous and diamond-like carbon (DLC) films possess unique properties such as high hardness, low friction coefficient, chemical stability, and biocompatibility, making them important for use in various industries including automotive, medical, electronics, and optoelectronics. This article discusses current challenges and new perspectives in applying amorphous and diamond-like carbon films. It was demonstrated that the amorphous and DLC films are the object of interest of a huge number of research groups around the world and these materials have been developing since the 1960s after the development of the plasma-chemical methods for their synthesis. The main methods of carbon films (amorphous, DLC, hydrogenated) synthesis, including physical and chemical vapor deposition (PVD and CVD), are analyzed, along with their influence on the structure and physical properties of the resulting materials. The actual problems in carbon film synthesis, such as low adhesion to the substrate, and insufficient mechanical and thermal stability, are also analyzed. It was shown that using the intermediate additional layers, the special doping, and the control of the kinetic energy of carbon ions during deposition allows a substantial increase in the structural quality of DLC films. The opportunities for improving film adhesion and hardness through changes in process parameters, such as the deposition temperature, the presence of the crossed magnetic field, and the pressure of the mixture of the precursor gases are considered. New prospects for DLC films application in medicine, surgery, prostheses, mechanics, and new functional devices are discussed. The summary information is important for beginners in carbon-based material science as well as for the general public to understand the general trends in this field. Keywords: amorphous carbon films, diamond-like carbon films, DLC, synthesis, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, adhesion, biocompatibility, hardness, biomedical applications.