| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Plasma Science and Technology | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session PS-TuP |
| Session: | Plasma Science and Technology Poster Session |
| Presenter: | P.K. Chu, City University of Hong Kong |
| Authors: | M. Xu, Shanghai Jiaotong University and City University of Hong Kong Z.W. Wu, City University of Hong Kong S.H. Pu, City University of Hong Kong X. Cai, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Hong Kong P.K. Chu, City University of Hong Kong |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Amorphous carbon films have excellent properties including high hardness, low friction coefficient, high chemical inertness, and good corrosion resistance. Metal-containing hydrogenated carbon films have recently attracted attention as nanocomposite films with microstructures comprising nanocrystalline grains in an amorphous matrix. These composite films have properties intermediate between a-C:H films and metal carbides and their mechanical and tribological properties and suitable for some applications. A variety of methods such as plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD), magnetron sputtering and ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) have been developed to produce MeC/a-C:H films. Acetylene (C2H2) plasma ion immersion implantation and deposition (PIII&D) was used in this work to fabricate carbon films with better adhesion to the substrate. Tungsten ion implantation was subsequently conducted without breaking vacuum to produce WC/a-C:H films in which there is a gradual transition region between the WC and a-C:H. The composition and structure of the films were evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and glancing angle X-ray diffraction. High resolution transmission microcopy was adopted to investigate the structure transformation. The surface morphology was observed by atomic force microscope and the hardness by nanoindentation measurements. Our results indicate that in addition to the formation of WC nanocrystalline grains in the amorphous structure, high energy W ion implantation reduces the sp2 contents and consequently enhancesm the mechanical properties.