Synthesis and characterization of boron incorporated diamond-like carbon thin films

• Biased target ion beam deposition technique is promising to produce high quality DLC based thin films;
• Boron exists in different states in B-DLC thin films;
• The incorporation of B to DLC with different levels leads to improved film properties;
• The fraction of sp3 bonded C in B-DLC thin films increase with the increase of B-rich carbide content in the films.

Boron incorporated diamond-like carbon (B-DLC) (up to 8 wt.% boron) thin films were synthesized on silicon wafers using biased target ion beam deposition technique, where diamond-like carbon (DLC) was deposited by ion beam deposition and boron (B) was simultaneously incorporated by biased target sputtering of a boron carbide (B4C) target under different conditions. Pure DLC films and B–C films were also synthesized by ion beam deposition and biased target sputtering of B4C under similar conditions, respectively, as reference samples. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the synthesized films have been characterized by various technologies. It has been found that B exists in different states in B-DLC, including carbon-rich and B-rich boron carbides, boron suboxide and boron oxide, and the oxidation of B probably occurs during the film deposition. The incorporation of B into DLC leads to the increase of sp3 bonded carbon in the films, the increase of both film hardness and elastic modulus, and the decrease of both surface roughness and friction coefficient. Furthermore, the content of sp3 bonded carbon, film hardness and elastic modulus increase, and the film surface roughness and friction coefficient decrease with the increase of B-rich carbide in the B-DLC films.