Effects of SiNx interlayer on characterisation of amorphous diamond-like carbon films

The magnetron sputtering amorphous diamond-like carbon film is successfully deposited by SiN_x interlayer approach. The scanning electron microscopy study reveals the creation of high uniform surface micrograph diamond-like carbon films with SiN_x interlayer. For comparison, diamond-like carbon films with different interlayers are also grown. The Raman spectra are analyzed in order to characterize the stressed induce peak shifts of the films. The interactions of C atom with Si(100) and SiN_x surface are studied by density functional theory simulation. The effects of interlayers on the films deposition and the considering deposition mechanism are discussed. It is suggested that the diamond-like carbon and SiN_x bilayer structure can help to render applications in protective coatings and high quality silicon on diamond related radiation tolerance devices.     

Some electrical properties of diamond-like carbon thin films

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) belongs to very interesting materials used for a number of practical applications. It was noted that the electrical properties of DLC films obtained by RF PCVD discharge depend substantially on the deposition conditions. The results and discussion of the electrical properties of DLC films and DLC/Si heterostructures is presented. The electrical conductivity results are explained in terms of hopping mechanism. The relation between charge transport, structure of the energy gap and the deposition conditions is discussed.     

氟化类金刚石膜结构、性能及应用

氟化类金刚石膜是基于传统类金刚石膜的基础上发展起来的一种改性材料,该膜具有许多良好的性能,包括疏水性能、电学性能、光学性能、机械性能、热稳定性以及生物相容性,因此引起了人们的极大关注.本文介绍了氟化类金刚石膜的结构、性能、应用领域和发展趋势.     

The infrared properties of magnetron-sputtered diamond-like thin films

We have measured the infrared reflectance, R, and the transmittance, T, of several amorphous and diamond-like carbon films deposited on GaAs substrates by d.c. magnetron sputtering in an Argon atmosphere. The thickness, d, and the refractive index, n, were found from the fringes in the near-infrared reflectance, which were due to the interference in the film, using an appropriate model for the absorption. The mid-infrared absorption coefficient , obtained from 1-R-T, was then fitted to a model of the absorption involving both vibrations and electronic transitions, using d and n. The electronic absorption was found to decrease with increasing pressure, along with an increase in the intensity of the hydrogen vibrational features. We associate the transparency with the presence of hydrogen and present support for this view by measuring a film in which hydrogen was deliberately introduced.     

氟化非晶碳薄膜的低频介电性质分析

研究了电子回旋共振等离子体技术沉积的氟化非晶碳(α-C：F)薄膜的低频(10^2～10^6Hz)介电性质。发现α-C：F薄膜的低频介电色散随源气体CHF3／C6H6的比例、微波入射功率而改变。结合薄膜键结构的红外分析,发现薄膜中C=C相对含量的增大是导致低频介电色散增强的原因,而C—F相对含量的增大则使低频介电色散减弱。     

Electrochemical performance of diamond-like carbon thin films

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films used in this study were intended for their electrochemical properties. The DLC films were deposited by a filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) process on p-type silicon (100) substrates biased at different pulse voltages (0-2000 V). The chemical bonding structures of the DLC films were characterized with micro-Raman spectroscopy and the electrochemical properties were evaluated by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization. The DLC films showed high impedance, high polarization resistance and high breakdown potential in a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ aqueous solution, which were attributed to the high sp³ content and uniformity of the films. The excellent chemical inertness of the DLC films made them promising corrosion resistant coating materials.     

Multifunctional thin film sensors based on amorphous diamond-like carbon for use in tribological applications

Amorphous diamond-like carbon films are well known for their excellent tribological properties. In this paper, we will discuss the sensoric properties of multifunctional a-C:H films with respect to force/load/pressure and temperature measurement. It turned out that nanostructured amorphous carbon films showed an impressive piezoresistive effect.Unlike well known strain gages and piezoresistive sensors, which detect a deformation of the base substrate, this novel sensor can be used in a complete stiff arrangement without any elastic joint. For film preparation, rf-plasma CVD processes were used. Besides gas pressure, a variation of the substrate power and bias potential was performed. It turned out that the tribological parameters varied slightly (hardness: 20-30 GPa, friction coefficient: 0.10 to 0.15), whereas the electrical parameters showed remarkable differences with respect to the electrical resistivity and piezoresistivity.This paper will also present different applications of amorphous carbon thin film sensors.     

Characterization of ion-beam-deposited diamond-like carbon films

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are excellent prospects for a wide range of high-technology applications but their precise structure and properties are not well understood. The purpose of the present work was to use several complementary techniques to characterize the nature, structure and microstructure of DLC films. Thin DLC films were deposited on various substrates in the presence of a Si interlayer (500 Å thick) using CH₄ ion-beam deposition at an acceleration energy of 750 eV and a current density of about 2.5 mA cm⁻². The Si interlayer was deposited by either e-beam evaporation or Si evaporation enhanced by Ar⁺ beam bombardment (1 keV). The produced DLC films were featureless, very smooth and of high hardness (2900–3300 kg mm⁻²). Auger electron spectroscopy and electron diffraction showed that the films were mainly amorphous. Their microstracture was characterized by a three-dimensional network structure with a medium-range order of about 25 nm. Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopies showed that the films were mainly composed of sp³ and sp² carbon-bonded hydrogen. The sp³/sp² ratio varied from 3.2 to 4.1 and was found to depend on the nature of the Si bond layer. The results showed that the nucleation of the diamondlike structure was promoted on the Si interlayer that was deposited under Ar⁺ beam bombardment. This effect can be explained by the higher surface roughness produced in this interlayer as suggested by the reflectivity measurements. Spectroscopic ellipsometry revealed that the films had an optical band gap between 1.56–1.64 eV. The present results are consistent with previous proposals suggesting that the DLC structure is composed of small graphitelike clusters (involving fused six-fold rings) that are interconnected by sp³-bonded carbon.     

Surface characterization and nanomechanical properties of diamond-like carbon films synthesized by RF plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were synthesized by RF plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using acetylene as the carbon source and the effects of acetylene/nitrogen ratio in the reaction atmosphere, deposition pressure, and plasma post-treatment using different atmospheres on the surface roughness and mechanical properties of DLC films were investigated. Although the surface roughness, characterized by AFM, decreased as the acetylene/nitrogen ratio in the reaction atmosphere decreased, the hardness of DLC films measured by nanoindentation also decreased with the decrease of the acetylene/nitrogen ratio, which is consistent with the Raman results of the I_D/I_G ratio. Rougher films with higher residual stress were obtained when using a deposition pressure higher than 40.0 Pa (0.3 torr). For the effect of plasma post-treatment using different atmospheres, surface smoothing was found for the hydrogen plasma post-treatment, whereas nitrogen and argon plasma post-treatments resulted in surface roughening. Hydrogen plasma post-treatment was found to lower the surface roughness without significantly sacrificing the hardness.     

Quantitative acoustic microscopy for characterization of the interface strength of diamond-like carbon thin films

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are emerging to be ideal materials in a variety of semiconductor, display, and film media applications. As with any deposited film, adhesion of the film to the substrate is of critical importance. The main objective of this paper is to report on the development of a technique based on acoustic microscopy for the quantitative characterization of the interface strength of thin (submicrometer) films. Preliminary results from 0.5 μm DLC films are presented to establish the feasibility of the new technique. Theoretical models of wave propagation indicate the Rayleigh wave velocity (at 600 MHz) is sensitive to the interface condition and could potentially be used to characterize the same. Acoustic material signatures (AMS) of DLC films which had varying levels of adhesion to silicon coated titanium substrates were obtained at 600 MHz using an acoustic microscope. The Rayleigh velocity (extracted from the AMS) had a strong correlation with the adhesion strength measured destructively using a pull tester. A model-based methodology for prediction of the interface strength of thin films through acoustic microscopy is also addressed.     

类金刚石膜的性能、制备与应用(一)

类金刚石（DLC）膜是一种含有大量sp^3的亚稳态非晶碳薄膜。本文简要地介绍了DLC膜的形成原理、制备方法、发展现状，及其在机械、电子、光学、声学、生物医学等领域的应用与存在的问题。     

类金刚石膜的性能、制备与应用(二)

类金刚石（DLC）膜是一种含有大量sp^3的亚稳态非晶碳薄膜。本文简要地介绍了DLC膜的形成原理、制备方法、发展现状,及其在机械、电子、光学、声学、生物医学等领域的应用与存在的问题。     

表面波激发等离子体合成类金刚石薄膜的实验研究

用表面波等离子体装置进行了类金刚石薄膜的合成实验,研究了微波功率、基底负偏压和气体组成等条件对成膜的影响.用拉曼光谱和扫描电子显微镜对薄膜结构和表面形貌进行了分析,得出在100Pa的工作气压下,使用CH4放电,大功率和高偏压有利于生成质量较好的薄膜.     

Optical and mechanical properties of diamond like carbon films deposited by microwave ECR plasma CVD

Diamond like carbon (DLC) films were deposited on Si (111) substrates by microwave electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process using plasma of argon and methane gases. During deposition, a d.c. self-bias was applied to the substrates by application of 13·56 MHz rf power. DLC films deposited at three different bias voltages (−60 V, −100 V and −150 V) were characterized by FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry to study the variation in the bonding and optical properties of the deposited coatings with process parameters. The mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus were measured by load depth sensing indentation technique. The DLC film deposited at −100 V bias exhibit high hardness (∼ 19 GPa), high elastic modulus (∼ 160 GPa) and high refractive index (∼ 2·16–2·26) as compared to films deposited at −60 V and −150 V substrate bias. This study clearly shows the significance of substrate bias in controlling the optical and mechanical properties of DLC films.     

Effect of ambient gaseous environment on the properties of amorphous carbon thin films

Amorphous carbon films have been deposited by filtered cathodic jet carbon arc technique under different gaseous environments. Scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope studies have been performed on the deposited films for the surface morphological studies. The morphology of the deposited film changes with the change in gas environment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) and Raman studies have been carried out on the deposited samples for the evaluation of the chemical bonding of carbon atoms with the ambient gas atoms. The sp³ and sp² contents have been evaluated from the XPS studies and found to be dependent on the gaseous environment. The film deposited under hydrogen environment has the highest value of the sp³ content (54.6 at.%) whereas the film deposited under helium environment has the lowest value of sp³ content (37 at.%). For the evaluation of the electrical and mechanical properties of the deposited films, the electrical conductivity and nanoindentation measurements have been performed on the deposited films. It has been observed that the film deposited under helium environment has the highest electrical conductivity and the lowest hardness (∼15 GPa) value whereas film deposited under hydrogen environment has the highest hardness (∼21 GPa) and the lowest conductivity.     

The influence of fluorine doping on the optical properties of diamond-like carbon thin films

Optical properties of fluorine doped diamond-like carbon (F:DLC) films deposited by the direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique were studied in detail. Surface morphologies of the F:DLC films were studied by an atomic force microscope, which indicated surface roughness increased with increase in at.% of F in the films. The chemical binding was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopic studies depicted the presence of CF_x (x = 1,2,3) and CH_n (n = 1,2) bonding within the F:DLC films. Optical transparency and the optical band gap decreased with the fluorine incorporation in the DLC film. Optical band gap calculated from the transmittance spectra decreased from 2.60 to 1.95 eV with a variation of 0-14.8 at.% of F concentration in the diamond-like carbon films. Urbach parameter determined from the band tail of the transmittance spectra showed that it increased with the doping concentration.     

剑麻纤维表面特性及其浸润行为

采用Weibull统计分布方法量化了剑麻纤维的横截面积, 并考虑液体在剑麻纤维中空结构中的芯吸质量, 发展了基于Wilhelmy吊片法原理测试剑麻纤维与液体动态接触角的表征方法。在此基础上, 分析了不同表面处理方法对剑麻纤维微观结构、 表面化学组成、 表面能及其色散、 极性特性的影响规律, 并测试了剑麻纤维与E51环氧树脂的浸润性。结果表明: NaOH、 阻燃剂处理使剑麻纤维表面极性官能团增加, 纤维的表面能极性分量增加显著; 硅烷处理增加了剑麻纤维表面的极性基团含量, 但使其极性分量减小, 表面能略有下降; 并且剑麻纤维与E51树脂的浸润性与其极性比匹配特性密切相关。     

类金刚石薄膜的紫外辐照研究

对射频等离子体方法制备的类金刚石（以下简称DLC）薄膜样品进行了紫外辐照，采用电阻率，Raman光谱及红外光谱研究了紫外光（以下简称UV）辐照对DLC薄膜结构与特征的影响，Raman光谱表明：紫外光对DLC薄膜中SP^3C-H键的破坏作用非常明显，红外（IR）光谱结果进一步验证了这一结果，经UV辐照后，DLC薄膜的电阻率呈变小趋势，这说明薄膜被强烈氧化，最后呈现石墨化趋势。     

Precursor gas effect on the mechanical and optical properties of ion beam deposited diamond-like carbon films

The effect of precursor gases on the diamond-like carbon (DLC) film deposition was investigated by the direct ion beam deposition method. DLC films were deposited using methane and benzene as the precursor gases. Ion energies for the deposition range from 100 to 700 eV were achieved by adjusting the beam voltage. The residual stresses, refractive indices and optical band gaps were compared at the same ion energy. We observed significant differences in residual stress and optical properties between these films. As in r.f. plasma-assisted CVD, the residual stresses of the films deposited from benzene show a characteristic behaviour of lower ion energy deposition than those deposited from methane. The present observations are discussed in terms of the difference in ion energy per carbon atom at the growth surface. We also observed that the Ar addition effect on the residual stress is strongly dependent on the precursor gases.     

Electrochemical corrosion behavior of amorphous carbon nitride thin films

The corrosion behavior along with biocompatibility and mechanical properties plays an important role in determining of biomedical implants feasibility. Diamond-like carbon seems to be the promising material in which all these three requirements can be achieved. In this study nitrogen doped amorphous carbon (a-C:N) films were deposited on silicon and medical CoCrMo alloy substrates by vacuum glow discharge sputtering technique using different deposition conditions from graphite target. Potentiodynamic polarization tests were employed to assess the corrosion performances of the films at room temperature in 0.89 wt. % NaCl solution. The influence of substrate bias on the electrochemical corrosion behavior was investigated. The highest value off E_corr for CoCrMo substrate was measured on the coating deposited with substrate bias around −0.6 kV. The shift of E_corr to more positive values was about 350 mV.