Amorphous hydrogenated carbon thin films deposited on stainless steel using high energy plasma focus device

•The (a-C:H) films were prepared using a high energy plasma focus device in acetylene and acetylene/hydrogen discharge.•The Raman spectra and the hardness of the deposited films depend on the hydrogen contents of the films.•The hydrogen contents of the films are related to the angular positions of the samples with respect to the anode axis.

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films have been deposited on stainless steel — AISI 304 substrates using a high energy plasma focus device in acetylene and acetylene/hydrogen discharge. The influence of hydrogen content on the microstructural and mechanical properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films has been studied in detail. The films were deposited with the same numbers of focus shot. They were placed at the same distance from anode tip but at different angular positions with respect to the anode axis. The results of Raman spectroscopy show successful deposition of (a-C:H) films. Also, it confirms the influence of hydrogen content on the diamond character. The peak intensity ratio of the D-band to G-band (ID/IG), the G-peak position and the full width at half maximum of the G-peak, FWHM (G), are used to characterize (a-C:H) films. The total hydrogen and copper atomic contents were obtained from elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) experiments and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) analysis, respectively. Their results confirm the dependency of hydrogen and copper atomic contents on the angular positions. Field emission scanning electron micrographs show the granular surface morphology of the deposited films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the amorphous structure of the films. The hardness measurement performed on the samples shows that the sample hardness is significantly improved.