Nanoindentation behaviors of amorphous carbon films containing nanocrystalline graphite and diamond clusters prepared by radio frequency sputtering

2013 ◽  
Vol 273 ◽  
pp. 816-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Fan ◽  
Kenji Nose ◽  
Dongfeng Diao ◽  
Toyonobu Yoshida
Keyword(s):  
Radio Frequency ◽  
Amorphous Carbon ◽  
Carbon Films ◽  
Amorphous Carbon Films ◽  
Radio Frequency Sputtering ◽  
Nanocrystalline Graphite

Formation of diamondlike nanocrystallites in amorphous carbon films synthesized by radio-frequency sputtering

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 700-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Wan ◽  
K. Komvopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Atom ◽  
Radio Frequency ◽  
Amorphous Carbon ◽  
Rf Sputtering ◽  
Film Surface ◽  
Carbon Films ◽  
Fast Fourier Transformation ◽  
Process Conditions ◽  
Tem Analysis ◽  
Radio Frequency Sputtering

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fast Fourier transformation (FFT) analysis were used to examine the microstructures of amorphous carbon (a-C) films deposited on Si(100) by radio-frequency (rf) sputtering without magnetron. TEM analysis revealed that a-C films synthesized under certain deposition conditions contained randomly dispersed nanocrystallites ∼35 Å in size. FFT results indicated that the nanocrystallites possessed diamondlike cubic structures with their close-packed {111} planes parallel to the film surface. The formation of diamondlike nanocrystallites is attributed to metastable carbon atom clusters of trigonal carbon hybridization that were sputtered off from the graphite target under certain process conditions. Cluster distortion upon deposition onto the growing film surface by the bombarding Ar+ ions promoted tetrahedral carbon atom hybridization and, possibly, epitaxial growth of diamondlike nanocrystallites for a short duration.

Plasma Deposition of Diamond-Like Carbon and Carbon-Nitride Films in an Electron Cyclotron Resonance-Radio Frequency Discharge

1998 ◽  
Vol 544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Turban ◽  
Marjan Zarrabian ◽  
Junegie Hong
Keyword(s):  
Radio Frequency ◽  
Amorphous Carbon ◽  
Cyclotron Resonance ◽  
Electron Cyclotron Resonance ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Carbon Films ◽  
Electron Cyclotron ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Amorphous Carbon Films ◽  
The Impact

AbstractHydrogenated and nitrogenated amorphous carbon films, a-C:H and a-C:H:N, were elaborated by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) in a dual Electron Cyclotron Resonance - Radio Frequency (ECR-RF) discharge of methane and/or nitrogen. The use of a low pressure plasma (2.6 mTorr) and a capacitive coupling of the substrate, separately from the electrical power of the ECR source, leads to reach new conditions of preparation. The ions and radicals fluxes, Φi and ΦR, determined respectively from the Langmuir probe measurements and the Mass Spectrometry (MS) give a ratio ΦR/Φi of order of 20. The CH3 radicals were identified and their concentration was measured from the technique of threshold ionization. It is shown that, even at low pressure, numerous ion-molecule reactions take place in the gas phase which explain the formation of major ions CH5+. and C2H5+. The plasma-surface interaction is studied by in-situ kinetic ellipsometry and by ex-situ X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurements of deposited films. The role of the impact energy of ions, during the growth of films, is studied by Ultra-Violet-Visible spectroscopic ellipsometry. A new technique of deposition by alternating sequences of «C H4 deposition - treatment by N2, plasma » is described in this paper. The resulted a-C:H:N films are compared to those elaborated from CH4-N2 plasmas. The aim of the discussion on the presented results is to better understand the mechanism of the growth of amorphous carbon films by PECVD.

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of Amorphous Carbon Films

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 318-319
Author(s):  
Mircea Fotino ◽  
D.C. Parks
Keyword(s):  
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy ◽  
Amorphous Carbon ◽  
Carbon Films ◽  
Atomic Scale ◽  
Scanning Tunneling ◽  
Tunneling Microscopy ◽  
Amorphous Carbon Films ◽  
Image Optimization ◽  
Step Procedure ◽  
Stm Images

In the last few years scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has made it possible and easily accessible to visualize surfaces of conducting specimens at the atomic scale. Such performance allows the detailed characterization of surface morphology in an increasing spectrum of applications in a wide variety of fields. Because the basic imaging process in STM differs fundamentally from its equivalent in other well-established microscopies, good understanding of the imaging mechanism in STM enables one to grasp the correct information content in STM images. It thus appears appropriate to explore by STM the structure of amorphous carbon films because they are used in many applications, in particular in the investigation of delicate biological specimens that may be altered through the preparation procedures.All STM images in the present study were obtained with the commercial instrument Nanoscope II (Digital Instruments, Inc., Santa Barbara, California). Since the importance of the scanning tip for image optimization and artifact reduction cannot be sufficiently emphasized, as stressed by early analyses of STM image formation, great attention has been directed toward adopting the most satisfactory tip geometry. The tips used here consisted either of mechanically sheared Pt/Ir wire (90:10, 0.010" diameter) or of etched W wire (0.030" diameter). The latter were eventually preferred after a two-step procedure for etching in NaOH was found to produce routinely tips with one or more short whiskers that are essentially rigid, uniform and sharp (Fig. 1) . Under these circumstances, atomic-resolution images of cleaved highly-ordered pyro-lytic graphite (HOPG) were reproducibly and readily attained as a standard criterion for easily recognizable and satisfactory performance (Fig. 2).

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