This paper aims to improve the wear resistance of 9Cr18 stainless steel. The amorphous carbon films were deposited by pulsed laser-induced cathodic vacuum arc technique with various argon flows. The microstructure and chemical state were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The mechanical and tribological properties of the films were analyzed by microhardness tester, nano-scratch tester and ball-on-disc friction tester. The Raman spectra showed that the integrated intensity ratio (ID/IG) was increased from 0.62 to 2.84 with increasing argon flow from 0 mL/min to 80 mL/min. The G peak full width at half-maximum (FWHM) was decreased with increasing argon flow. XPS showed that the sp3 content was decreased with increasing argon flow. The sp3 content of the film deposited at 0 mL/min was highest, with a value of 55.1%. As the argon flow at 80 mL/min, the sp3 content reduced to a minimum value of 31.0%. The hardness and modulus were decreased with increasing argon flow. The friction coefficient of the films was between 0.1 and 0.2, and the wear rate was increased with increasing argon flow. The films deposited at 0 mL/min have the minimum wear rate with a value of 3.8×10–17 m3/(m.N), which decrease ten times than the films deposited at 80 mL/min (1.1×10–16 m3/(m.N)), and indicates an excellent wear resistance.