Chromium containing amorphous hydrogenated carbon thin films was deposited using a dc sputter deposition technique under various mixtures of methane and Ar. The microstructure, composition, and optical properties of the resulting films were investigated. We show that a-C:H/Cr thin fllms exhibiting absorptance in certain wavelengths are greater than 95% and the average absorptance was 86% in the 0.3 to 2.5 mu m wavelength can be obtained by using appropriate methane/Ar ratios and deposition times. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.