Microstructure dependence of low-temperature elastic properties in amorphous diamondlike carbon films

Abstract

We have studied the internal friction and the relative change in the speed of sound of amorphous diamondlike carbon films prepared by pulsed-laser deposition from $0.3\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ to room temperature. Like most amorphous solids, the internal friction below $10\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ exhibits a temperature independent plateau. The values of the internal friction plateaus, however, are slightly below the universal glassy range where the internal frictions of almost all amorphous solids lie. Similar observations have been made in our earlier studies in the thin films of amorphous silicon and amorphous germanium, and the behavior could be well accounted for by the existence of the low-energy atomic tunneling states. In this work, we have varied the concentration of $s{p}^{3}$ vs $s{p}^{2}$ carbon atoms by increasing the laser fluence from $1.5\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}30\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{J}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. Our results show that both the internal friction and the speed of sound have a nonmonotonic dependence on an $s{p}^{3}∕s{p}^{2}$ ratio with the values of the internal friction plateaus varying between $6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$ and $1.1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$. We explain our findings as a result of a possible competition between the increase of atomic bonding and the increase of internal strain in the films, both of which are important in determining the tunneling states in amorphous solids. In contrast, no significant dependence of laser fluence is found in shear moduli of the films, which vary between 220 and $254\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GPa}$. The temperature dependence of the relative change in speed of sound, although it shows a similar nonmonotonic dependence on laser fluence as the internal friction differs from those found in thin films of amorphous silicon and amorphous germanium, which we explain as having the same origin as the anomalous behavior recently observed in the speed of sound of thin nanocrystalline diamond films.