Abstract
The effects of the main deposition parameters: (1) microwave power ( P w); (2) nitrogen content in a CH 4-N 2 gas mixture (%N 2): and (3) RF-substrate bias ( U F) on the growth rate V g, nitrogen concentration N:C, microhardness H, friction coefficient K and wear resistance of CN xH y, films, deposited by ECR plasma-enhanced CVD, are reported. The plots of V g versus U F a and N:C versus U F h have peaks at certain values of U F. The maximal values of N:C and V g of about 0.2 and 1.2 nm s 1, respectively, for CN xH y films were obtained. The microhardness of the film increased with the increase of parameter J∼ U F × (%N 2), while the influence of nitrogen concentration in the film on its microhardness and tribological properties was not revealed. The microhardness derived from nanoindentation measurements was in the range 3700–7000 N mm 2 depending on deposition conditions; the friction coefficient was 0.08–0.4 depending on measuring technique (scratch test or ball-on-disk test) and deposition parameters. Ball-on-disk tests revealed relativly high wear resistance of the best samples at a 5 N normal load. An increase of the load to 20 N noticeably resulted in an increase in the wear. The main factor which greatly influenced CN xH y film properties and the growth mechanisms was the ion bombardment of the film during the growth process.
Published Version
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