Surface treatment of diamond-like carbon films by reactive Ar/CF4 high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering plasmas

Surface modification of diamond-like carbon films deposited by a high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) of Ar was carried out by a HPPMS of Ar/CF4 mixture, changing a CF4 fraction from 2.5% to 20%. The hardness of the modified films markedly decreased from about 13 to about 3.5 GPa with increasing CF4 fraction, whereas the water contact angle of the modified films increased from 68° to 109° owing to the increase in the CFx content on the film surface. C 1s spectra in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that a graphitic structure of modified films was formed at CF4 fractions less than 5%, above which the modified films possessed a polymer-like structure.Influence of treatment time on the properties of the modified films was also investigated in the range of treatment time from 5 to 30 min. The properties of the modified films did not depend on the treatment time in the range of treatment time longer than 10 min, whereas the water contact angle was not sensitive to the treatment time at any treatment time.