Properties of Flexible Dlc Film Deposited by Amplitude‐Modulated Rf P‐Cvd

Abstract The flexible DLC film is one of the novel techniques to deposit the DLC film on polymer materials such as rubber and resin, which does not cause any peeling-off of the film even with the deformation of the substrates. It was found that the DLC film deposited by modulated RF plasma-CVD has the features of (1) small friction, (2) small wear (less than Teflon), (3) high water repellency (90° contact angle for pure water), (4) good insulation characteristic (surface resistance on the order of 10 12 Ω cm), (5) less peeling-off due to expansion and contraction of the polymer material, and (6) deposition at lower temperatures (below 80°). This new DLC film is applied to the rubber seal ring (O-ring) for zoom lens system of 35 mm compact cameras. The flexible DLC technique is expected to expand itself and to create wider applications of DLC films.