Techniques for forming a thin coating of a material on a carbon-based material are provided. In one aspect, a method for forming a thin coating on a surface of a carbon-based material is provided. The method includes the following steps. An ultra thin silicon nucleation layer is deposited to a thickness of from about two angstroms to about 10 angstroms on at least a portion of the surface of the carbon-based material to facilitate nucleation of the coating on the surface of the carbon-based material. The thin coating is deposited to a thickness of from about two angstroms to about 100 angstroms over the ultra thin silicon layer to form the thin coating on the surface of the carbon-based material.