Hardness, elastic modulus, and structure of very hard carbon films produced by cathodic-arc deposition with substrate pulse biasing

Journal Article · Thu Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.116530· OSTI ID:278460

Pharr, G M; Callahan, D L; McAdams, S D; Tsui, T Y ^[1]; Anders, S; Anders, A; Ager, III, J W; Brown, I G ^[2]; Bhatia, C S ^[3]; Silva, S R; Robertson, J ^[4]

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1. Department of Materials Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77251-1892 (United States)
2. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
3. IBM Corporation, San Jose, California 95193 (United States)
4. Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PZ (United Kingdom)

The hardness, elastic modulus, and structure of several amorphous carbon films on silicon prepared by cathodic-arc deposition with substrate pulse biasing have been examined using nanoindentation, energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. EELS analysis shows that the highest {ital sp}{sup 3} contents (85{percent}) and densities (3.00 g/cm{sup 3}) are achieved at incident ion energies of around 120 eV. The hardness and elastic modulus of the films with the highest {ital sp}{sup 3} contents are at least 59 and 400 GPa, respectively. These values are conservative lower estimates due to substrate influences on the nanoindentation measurements. The films are predominantly amorphous with a {approximately}20 nm surface layer which is structurally different and softer than the bulk. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400; AC03-76SF00098; AC05-76OR00033
• OSTI ID: 278460
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 68; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
AMORPHOUS STATE
CARBON
CHEMICAL BONDS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DEPOSITION
EEL SPECTROSCOPY
ELASTICITY
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ENERGY LOSSES
HARDNESS
MICROSTRUCTURE
THIN FILMS