Study of 130 Mev Ni Ion Irradiation Induced Surface Modification of DLC Films Grown By Microwave Plasma CVD.

Abstract

We report on the 130 MeV Ni ion irradiation induced modification of the surface roughness of DLC films grown by microwave plasma CVD method. The MWCVD system which was used to grow the DLC thin films was designed and developed in-house. The growth of thin films of DLC was studied with different substrate dc bias using Ar/H2 (2%) and Methane as feedstock. The deposited films were irradiated with 130 MeV Ni ion irradiation to doses of 3e, 3e and 1e ions/cm. Atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to study the 130 MeV Ni ion irradiation induced modification of surface topography and structure of the DLC films. Raman spectroscopy results of the deposited films show D and G bands at 1380 cm and 1558 cm characteristic of DLC films and indicate change in sp content with change in –dc bias. The Atomic force microscopy results show that the deposited DLC films have smooth surface and the RMS roughness decreased in the irradiated films relative to the pristine film which can be due to the electronic energy loss of 130 MeV Ni ions being lower than the energy loss threshold for track formation.