Deposition of hard coatings on polycarbonate substrate by high frequency ion beam

The poor wear and scratch properties of polycarbonate have limited its application in many fields. In order to improve the wear and scratch properties of polycarbonate we have deposited diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings. The diamond like carbon coatings were made using a high frequency ion beam gun by introducing H2 and CH4 gases. The coatings were characterized with Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, ellipsometer, microscratch tester and hazemeter. Polymeric hard coating was applied onto the polycarbonate substrate before depositing a DLC coating to investigate the effect of interlayer on the system's failure mode.