Physical properties of sputtered amorphous carbon coating

sIn this study the effect of deposition temperature and thickness on the physical properties of carbon films deposited by magnetron sputtering PVD was investigated. The results of Raman spectra and grazing incidence XRD (GIXRD) patterns show that the graphitization increases by increasing the deposition temperature. There is a change in deposition mechanism at 400 °C from amorphous carbon deposition to nano-structured graphite deposition. Also by increasing substrate temperature the electrical resistance of carbon films reduces significantly up to 300 °C and then remains largely constant. High intrinsic compressive stress in low temperature deposited carbon films causes cracks and delaminating in carbon films.

► In this study, we examine the electrical resistance of carbon films deposited on stainless steel for using as bipolar plates in PEM fuel cells.
► We changed the deposition temperature and deposition time to evaluate electrical resistivity.
► The results show that by increasing the deposition time, the electrical resistance increases, especially in deposition temperatures less than 300 °C.
► Finally, we concluded that for bipolar plate applications that the electrical resistance is important, we should use carbon coatings that deposited at temperatures higher than 300 °C.