STRUCTURE, MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND THERMAL STABILITY OF DIAMOND-LIKE CARBON FILMS PREPARED BY ARC ION PLATING

Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) films have been prepared on Si(100) substrates by arc ion plating in conjunction with pulse bias voltage under H2 atmosphere. The depo sited films have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy and atomic f orce microscopy. The results show that the surface of the film is smooth and den se without any cracks, and the surface roughness is low. The bonding characteris tic of the films has been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. It shows the sp3 bond content of the film deposited at -200V is 26.7%. The hardness and elastic modulus of the film determined by nanoindent ation technique are 30.8 and 250.1GPa, respectively. The tribological characteri stic of the films reveals that they have low friction coefficient and good wear- resistance. After deposition, the films have been annealed in the range of 350-7 00℃ for 1h in vacuum to investigate the thermal stability. Raman spectra indica te that the ID/IG ratio and G peak position have few detectable changes below 50 0℃. Further increasing the annealing temperature, the hydrogen can be released, the structure rearranges, and the phase transition of sp3 configured carbon to sp2 configured carbon appears.