Hardness, elastic modulus, and structure of very hard carbon films produced by cathodic-arc deposition with substrate pulse biasing
- Department of Materials Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77251-1892 (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
- IBM Corporation, San Jose, California 95193 (United States)
- 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
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