Characterization of Ultra-Thin Diamond-Like Carbon Films by SEM/EDX

Deposition and characterization of ultra thin diamond like carbon films

Amorphous hydrogenated and/or nitrogenated carbon films, a-C:H/a-C:N, in overall thickness up to 2 nm are materials of choice as a mechanical and corrosion protection layer of the magnetic media in modern hard disk drive disks. In order to obtain high density and void-free films the sputtering technology has been replaced by different plasma and ion beam deposition techniques. Hydrocarbon gas p...

Measuring the thickness of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon films

This paper examines the challenge posed by the measurement of thickness of sub-50 nm diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited onto silicon substrates. We compared contact profilometry (CP), optical profilometry (OP), contact atomic force microscopy (CAFM), tapping atomic force microscopy (TAFM) and X-ray reflectometry (XRR). Generally, CP, CAFM, TAFM and XRR give similar thickness values excep...

Structure of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon films grown with filtered cathodic arc on Si(001).

The structure of 3 nm and 15 nm diamond-like carbon films, grown on Si(001) by filtered cathodic arc, was studied by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ARXPS data was deconvolved by employing simultaneous-fitting, which allowed for a clear deconvolution of the Si 2p and C 1s spectra into their different chemical contributions....

Diamond, Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) and Diamond-Like Nanocomposite (DLN) Thin Films for MEMS Applications

Modeling of the electron field emission process in polycrystalline diamond and diamond-like carbon thin films

Electron field emission has been observed from carbon thin films at relatively low electric fields. These films range from amorphous carbon to polycrystalline diamond films. There are many models that attempt to account for the electron field emission process observed in these films. The initial models that were based on the emission due purely to a negative electron affinity have now been modi...