The work aims to study deposition technology and microstructure of Tantalum film deposited by arc ion plating method and to analyze the growth mechanism of Tantalum film. The Tantalum film on the surface of graphite substrate was deposited by arc ion plating method. The influences of deposition parameters such as arc current, negative bias etc. on the phase composition, deposition rate and surface morphology of Tantalum film were studied. From the results, the Tantalum film was composed of α-Ta and a small amount of β-Ta; The deposition parameters such as arc current, negative bias, target-substrate distance seriously affected thickness, deposition rate and film-substrate cohesion of Tantalum film. The deposition rate was suitable (0.1 μm/min) and the film-substrate cohesion reached the highest (69 N) when the arc current was 220 A, the negative bias was 300 V and the target-substrate distance was 200 mm; The thickness of Tantalum film was uniform and the fine grain and dense structure of transition layer of 0.6~0.9 μm could be obtained near graphite substrate. The rest part of Tantalum film was fine columnar crystals. The surface particle sizes of Tantalum film decreased as the negative bias increased. The particle size was fine and uniform (3~5 μm) when the negative bias was 300 V; and the surface of Tantalum film was free from small pore and crack. The high-quality Tantalum film with dense structure, uniform thickness and high film-substrate cohesion can be deposited on graphite substrate by arc ion plating method. At the beginning of deposition, the stable nucleus can be formed through deposition, movement and diffusion etc. With the increase of deposition time, the stable nucleus grows to form islands, and the islands grow to form a continuous film in three-dimensional direction. The Tantalum film deposited by arc ion plating method is the typical island growth pattern.