Superharte amorphe Kohlenstoffschichten für Zerspanungs- und Umformwerkzeuge

Tetrahedral bonded amorphous carbon films (ta-C) have a promising tribol. potential due to their unique combination of very high hardness and low adhesion. Barriers, hindering the wider industrial use of these films, have been successfully overcome by development of advanced film systems (with markedly increased adherence) and by the development of industrial deposition technique (based on pulsed vacuum arc discharges). An esp. promising field is the machining of light and non-ferrous metals and of non-metal materials. For forming tools a redn. of the film roughness, which is an inherent result of the deposition process, is necessary for full use of the high performance, which has been proved in special applications as the forming of zinc-plated sheet steel.