TITLE:
Mechanical Properties of Composite SiNx/DLC Films Prepared by Filtered Cathodic Arc of Graphite Incorporated with RF Sputtering of Silicon Nitride
AUTHORS:
Phuwanai Bunnak, Yongping Gong, Supanee Limsuwan, Artorn Pokaipisit, Pichet Limsuwan
KEYWORDS:
Silicon Nitride; Diamond-Like Carbon; Composite SiNx/DLC Film; Filtered Cathodic arc
JOURNAL NAME:
Materials Sciences and Applications,
Vol.4 No.9,
September
12,
2013
ABSTRACT: Composite SiNx/DLC films were deposited on Si substrate by RF magnetron sputtering of silicon nitride (Si3N4) target simultaneously with filtered cathode arc (FCA) of graphite. The RF power was fixed at 100 W whereas the arc currents of FCA were 20, 40, 60 and 80 A. The effects of arc current on the structure, surface roughness, density and mechanical properties of SiNx/DLC films were investigated. The results show that the arc current in the studied range has effect on the structure, surface roughness, density and mechanical properties of composite SiNx/DLC films. The composite SiNx/DLC films show the sp3 content between 53.5% and 66.7%, density between 2.54 and2.98 g/cm3, stress between 1.7 and 2.2 GPa, and hardness between 35 and 51 GPa. Furthermore, it was found that the density, stress and hardness correlate linearly with the sp3 content for composite SiNx/DLC films.