Straw tubes with resistive cathode and cathode readout were successfully manufactured and tested. The straw tubes were manufactured by ultrasonic welding technique. The resistive cathode electrode was made of diamond like carbon (DLC). The possibility of cathode signal readout from external strip electrodes was successfully demonstrated. The event coordinate along the straw can be accurately determined by applying center of gravity method to the individual strip signals.

A prototype of the Micromegas detector with 30 x 30 mm2 active area and the resistive anode was developed and produced at DLNP JINR using a bulk Micromegas technological process and a diamond-like carbon resistive layer on a polyimide substrate. The prototype is considered as an option for the future upgrade of the readout chambers for the Time Projection Chamber of the Multi-Purpose Detector experiment at the NICA collider. The performance of the prototype of the Micromegas detector was studied using a 55Fe radioactive source and an Ar:CO2 (90:10) gas mixture. The dependencies of the gas gain and the energy resolution on applied high voltage are obtained. The detector works stably up to the gas gain of 30,000. For the gas gain of 10,000 the resolution for the line 5.9 keV of the 55Fe source is 22%. The robustness of the detector prototype to electric discharges was demonstrated by accumulating about 10,000 discharge events at a gas gain of 40,000 without any visible impact on the operation of the prototype.

The technique of combined DC metal arc and carbon pulsed arc was used to deposit thin solid films containing up to 6.5 at.% of silver. The microstructure and antibacterial properties of silver-doped diamondlike carbon (DLC) films have been investigated. Silver nanoparticle of flat disk shape located inside of an amorphous carbon matrix revealed excellent antibacterial properties concerning Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Titanium substrates with DLC films doped with silver have an inhibiting effect on growth of some tumors, in particular, on rat neoplastic C6 glioma. This result is new and opens further possibility for application of DLC:Ag composite in medicine. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.

The survival of rat C6 glioma decreased in the presence of implants from VT-16 titanium alloy. Diamond-like carbon coating of VT-16 alloy slightly increased cell death on day 5 of the experiment (39.9±2.1%). The percentage of dead C6 glioma cells inside titanium rings with diamond-like carbon coating, incorporating up to 3.5 atom.% Ag nanoparticles, was 53.7±4.3% on day 5 of culturing, while after doping to 6.7 atom.% Ag cell death reached 66.7±3.2% (p<0.05). The maximum toxic effect towards C6 glioma was detected in the specimens coated with diamond-like film with silver nanoparticles.

In this work demonstrate a new combined PVD-CVD technique to obtain high quality diamond-like carbon (DLC) films with higher deposition rate. The DI.C films deposited in environment of acetylene under different pressure (0.5 – 1 Pa) in vacuum. The tribological behavior of coated flat specifimens were tested by pin-on-disk tribometer in contact with bearing steel balls, it was found that the friction coefficient of DLC films changed from 0.25 – 0.03 which depended by the pressure of acetylene. XPS and Raman spectra exhibited the DLC films enclosed over 70% of spj bonded carbon. The nanohardness of DLC was examined by nanoindentation. the value of nanohardness was ranged from 15 to 55 GPa depending on acetylene gas pressure in vacuum chamber varied from 0.1 to 1 Pa. The combined PVD-CVD technique provides dramatic decreasing in compressive stress and gives a possibility to deposit a DLC film on the steel substrate in the thickness of 2.5 – 3 μn with excellent smoothness (Ra=1.5 nm).

Diamond-like carbon films prepared by the pulsed vacuum are discharge method are characterized by high growth rates and large coating areas. The films obtained demonstrate good adhesion to different substrate materials, continuity for small thicknesses, high microhardness and electric resistivity as well as low impurity content.Analysis of the films' structure and phase composition has shown that, depending on the deposition conditions, the structure in the short-range order varies considerably and corresponds to that of diamond, carbyne and graphite crystals. It is found that the non-homogeneity of the plasmoid density and composition results in structural non-uniformities in the film microstructure.Electrical, mechanical and optical properties of the films correlate with the short-range structural order. It is shown that the proposed method of film condensation allows effective control of the film properties and structure as well as good reproducibility of the required properties, which is particularly useful in industrial applications.

Theoretical and practical aspects of the condensation of pulsed vacuum arc discharge plasma were considered. Problems connected with designing plasma accelerators for the preparation of diamond-like carbon films are discussed. Primary attention is paid to the problems of achieving pulsed accelerations with long service life and to ensuring the stability of the processes involved in the formation of diamond-like carbon coatings. Some operating parameters of the developed equipment are given and the prospects of the deposition method are discussed in terms of the production of carbon films for different applications.

The possibility of using diamond-like carbon coatings in precision friction pairs to improve their service life was studied. The diamond-like coatings were prepared by the condensation of accelerated flows of pulsed plasma from vacuum-charge discharge at substrate temperatures less than 373 K. The basic conditions for film formation, tribological and physical properties of the films, and their structure were investigated. It was established that the service life of the coated parts and mechanisms increased 3–40 times. Requirements relating to geometry, surface quality and operating conditions of the precision friction pairs were formulated.