Amorphous Carbon Coatings on Glass for High Voltage Protection

Abstract A radio-frequency hollow cathode-based hybrid process integrating both physical vapor deposition and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was used for deposition of amorphous carbon on glass samples. The films were subjected to high voltage pulses and the performance was compared with uncoated glass samples to test the protection ability of the films and the ability to prevent the deteriorating effects of corona flashovers/arcs. In contrast to the uncoated glass the well adherent carbon films with thicknesses between 3.5 and 17 µm exhibited an excellent protection of the glass substrate against the flashovers/arc damages in both polarities of the electric field with voltages up to 300 kV.