Study of growth processes and mechanical properties of nanoscale multilayered C/C films

The growth processes of carbon films deposited using two techniques (sputtering and RF plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition, PACVD), and the effects of stacking these films in a multilayered structure on their mechanical and adhesion properties were studied. The films deposited by the two techniques differed in composition, structure and hardness. They are termed “hard C” and “soft C” according to their synthesis process, sputtering and PACVD respectively. By means of stress measurements and angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the growth mechanism of the films was characterized when they were deposited on a silicon substrate and when one kind of carbon film was deposited onto the other kind, in order to simulate a multi-layer film formation. This study evidenced the effect of converting the individual layer surfaces into interfaces when building a multilayer film. On one hand, this conversion appeared to increase the compressive stress of the multilayer films for the lowest periodicity (14 nm and 7 nm of half-period). On the other hand, a strong correlation between the stress resulting from multilayering and the film elasto-plastic properties was found. A hardening effect, put in evidence by applying a nano-indentation “plasticity index”, was obtained for the most layered films (i.e. with the lowest modulation period) and this effect is discussed in relation with the existing models for multi-layer strengthening. The film adhesion to polyethylene terephtalate (PET) substrates was investigated. A beneficial effect of multi-layering on film adhesion was significant only when the half-width period went down to 14 nm and 7 nm. The adhesion improvement cannot be related to a reduced internal stress, since the most stressed films were also the most adherent. Instead the compressive stress found in the films with the lowest periodicity is thought to induce a stronger bonding of the soft C layer (polymer-like) to the PET substrate and to the hard C layers, through chain entanglement across the interface.