Hydrogenated amorphous carbon films deposited on 316L stainless steel

Research on hydrogen amorphous carbon films (a-C:H), which possess the diamond-like characteristic, has been stimulated for many years by need to simultaneously optimizing the mechanical, optical and biological properties, and by challenges related to the deposition of a-C:H films on medical implants. In the present work, we investigate the structure, optical and mechanical properties (hardness, elastic modulus and stress) of a-C:H films deposited on 316L stainless steel substrate by the radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF PECVD). The negative self-bias voltages significantly influence on temperature of steel substrates during the deposition process and films properties. Specifically, the high energetic deposition leads also to stabilization of the sp2 content and thermally-activated relaxation in the stress of a-C:H films. Presented correlation between the obtained results and literature analysis let deem the Raman spectra as a good tool to control the properties of implants made of 316L stainless steel with a-C:H film for general use.