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Friction, nanostructure, and residual stress of single-layer and multi-layer amorphous carbon films deposited by radio-frequency sputtering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2016

Jun Xie  and
Kyriakos Komvopoulos
Jun Xie
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Kyriakos Komvopoulos*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: kyriakos@me.berkeley.edu
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Abstract

Single- and multi-layer amorphous carbon (a-C) films of varying thickness were deposited on Si(100) substrates by radio-frequency sputtering in a pure Ar atmosphere. The thickness, roughness, coefficient of friction, and residual stress of the a-C films were measured by profilometry, atomic force microscopy, surface force microscopy, and curvature method, respectively. The through-thickness nanostructure and elemental composition of the films were examined by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. The multi-layer a-C films, consisting of alternating ∼10-nm-thick hard and soft a-C layers deposited under 0 and −200 V substrate bias, respectively, were found to exhibit lower roughness, coefficient of friction, and residual stress and slightly higher tetrahedral carbon atom hybridization than single-layer a-C films of similar thickness. The results of this study reveal a strong correlation of the friction characteristics with the surface roughness and nanostructure of single- and multi-layer a-C films.

Keywords

nanostructurethin filmtribology
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 31 , Issue 13: Focus Issue: Advances and Challenges in Carbon-based Tribomaterials , 14 July 2016 , pp. 1857 - 1864
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2016 

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