Effects of substrate temperature on chemical structure of amorphous carbon films

Amorphous carbon thin films were prepared at 30, 200, and 450 °C by magnetron sputtering of a graphite target. The surface structure and chemical bonding (sp2/sp3) of the carbon films were characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and Raman spectroscopy. STM images show that graphite micr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 1992-03, Vol.71 (5), p.2243-2248
Main Authors: CHO, N. H, VEIRS, D. K, AGER, J. W, RUBIN, M. D, HOPPER, C. B, BOGY, D. B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMORPHOUS STATE
BONDING
CARBON
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DEFECTS
ELEMENTS
Exact sciences and technology
FABRICATION
JOINING
LASER SPECTROSCOPY
MATERIALS SCIENCE
MICROSTRUCTURE
NONMETALS
Physics
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
Solid surfaces and solid-solid interfaces
SPECTROSCOPY
Surface and interface dynamics and vibrations
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
TEMPERATURE RANGE 360602 > Other Materials-- Structure & Phase Studies
Thin film structure and morphology
THIN FILMS
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Summary:Amorphous carbon thin films were prepared at 30, 200, and 450 °C by magnetron sputtering of a graphite target. The surface structure and chemical bonding (sp2/sp3) of the carbon films were characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and Raman spectroscopy. STM images show that graphite microcrystallites of 20–40 Å in size are present at the surfaces of all the films and the number of the microcrystallites increases with increasing substrate temperature. The microcrystallites often contain structural defects. Raman measurements show that increasing the substrate temperature results in an increase in the sp2-bonded fraction of carbon atoms and a decrease in the microstructural defects. These results indicate that the microstructural changes are correlated with changes in the chemical bonding ratio (sp3/sp3) and no diamond microcrystallites are present in the amorphous carbon. A three-dimensional atomic structure of the graphite microcrystallites is discussed in terms of turbostratic graphite.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.351122