On the quantification of unbound hydrogen in diamond-like carbon-based thin films

This paper presents a new and straightforward approach to quantify the content of unbound hydrogen in diamond-like carbon-based films. In the case of TiC/a-C:H nanocomposite films it is shown that the content of unbound and bound hydrogen can be deconvoluted via thermal release and elastic recoil detection analysis of hydrogen as a function of annealing temperature. Upon the release of unbound hydrogen, a substantial increase in friction is measured on TiC/a-C:H nanocomposite films.