ABSTRACT
Objective The high energy ion bombardment technique is applied to enhancing the adhesion of the tetrahedral amorphous carbon (TAC) films deposited by the filtered cathode vacuum arc (FCVA). Methods The abrasion method, scratch method, heating and shaking method as well as boiling salt solution method is used to test the adhesion of the TAC films on various material substrates. Results The test results show that the adhesion is increased as the ion bombardment energy increases. However, if the bombardment energy were over the corresponding optimum value, the adhesion would be enhanced very slowly for the harder material substrates and drops quickly, for the softer ones. Conclusion The optimum values of the ion bombardment energy are larger for the harder materials than that for the softer ones.