类金刚石碳（Diamond-like carbon，DLC）是存在有七种不同的形式，却表现出一些金刚石特性的无定形碳。由于它的一些特性，它通常被用作其它材料的涂层材料。所有的七种形式都拥有大量sp杂化的碳原子。它们属于不同类型的原因是，即使是金刚石也被发现有两种晶型：其中最常见的一种是立方晶体，而最不常见的一种(蓝丝黛尔石)是六方晶体。通过在纳米尺度结构的不同方法混合这些晶型，类金刚石涂层可以同时拥有非晶、有弹性，且是纯sp杂化连接的"金刚石"。其中最硬、最强、最光滑的是被称为 四面体非晶碳（ta-C）的一种混合物。例如，仅仅2微米厚度的ta-C涂层可以增加常规 (例如304型) 不锈钢针对磨料磨损的抵抗力，从而增加其在这类使用中的寿命从1周到85年不等。这种ta-C可以被认为是"纯"形式的类金刚石碳，因为它仅仅由sp连接的碳原子组成。一些填料例如氢，石墨sp杂化碳，以及金属，被用在其它六种类金刚石碳中，以减少生产费用或者增加其它的一些性能。 这些种类的类金刚石几乎可以用在任何具有兼容真空环境的材料中。在2006年，欧盟内的外包类金刚石涂层市场估计市值达约三千万欧元。2011年11月，每日科学杂质报告说斯坦福大学的研究人员已经在超高压的条件下制造出了一种超硬的非晶金刚石，它并没有金刚石的晶体结构，却拥有碳的轻质量。

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a class of amorphous carbon material that displays some of the typical properties of diamond. DLC is usually applied as coatings to other materials that could benefit from some of those properties.

DLC exists in seven different forms. All seven contain significant amounts of sp hybridized carbon atoms. The reason that there are different types is that even diamond can be found in two crystalline polytypes. The usual one has its carbon atoms arranged in a cubic lattice, while the very rare one (lonsdaleite) has a hexagonal lattice. By mixing these polytypes in various ways at the nanoscale level of structure, DLC coatings can be made that at the same time are amorphous, flexible, and yet purely sp bonded "diamond". The hardest, strongest, and slickest is such a mixture, known as tetrahedral amorphous carbon, or ta-C. For example, a coating of only 2 μm thickness of ta-C increases the resistance of common (i.e. type 304) stainless steel against abrasive wear; changing its lifetime in such service from one week to 85 years. Such ta-C can be considered to be the "pure" form of DLC, since it consists only of sp bonded carbon atoms. Fillers such as hydrogen, graphitic sp carbon, and metals are used in the other 6 forms to reduce production expenses or to impart other desirable properties.