Abstract: A series of tetrahedral amorphous carbon films (ta-C) were deposited on silicon wafer Si(100), W18Cr4V high-speed steel, and Cr18Ni9 stainless steel substrates using a pulsed filtered cathodic vacuum arc system. The mechanical properties, adhesion to substrate, and friction and wear behaviors of the resulting ta-C films were investigated. The effects of the substrate and film thickness on the adhesion to substrate and tribological behaviors of the ta-C films were also examined. It was found that that the ta-C film deposited on the high-speed steel substrate had good comprehensive properties. Namely, it had a microhardness as high as 76 GPa and elastic modulus as high as 453 GPa, while its critical adhesive force (Lc) was as high as 41 N and friction coefficient as small as 0.12. At the same time, the friction coefficient of this kept almost unchanged up to a rotary cycle of 16 000. Therefore, it was rational to predict that the ta-C film deposited on the high-speed steel substrate could be used as a high-quality antiwear and protective coating for various parts made of high-speed steel.