Mechanical Properties of Composite SiNx/DLC Films Prepared by Filtered Cathodic Arc of Graphite Incorporated with RF Sputtering of Silicon Nitride

Phuwanai Bunnak, Yongping Gong, Supanee Limsuwan, Artorn Pokaipisit, Pichet Limsuwan

Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand.
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand; Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics, CHE, Ministry of Education, Bangkok, Thailand.
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand; Western Digital (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Western Digital (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Ayutthaya, Thailand.

DOI: 10.4236/msa.2013.49069                

Abstract

Composite SiN_x/DLC films were deposited on Si substrate by RF magnetron sputtering of silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) target simultaneously with filtered cathode arc (FCA) of graphite. The RF power was fixed at 100 W whereas the arc currents of FCA were 20, 40, 60 and 80 A. The effects of arc current on the structure, surface roughness, density and mechanical properties of SiN_x/DLC films were investigated. The results show that the arc current in the studied range has effect on the structure, surface roughness, density and mechanical properties of composite SiN_x/DLC films. The composite SiN_x/DLC films show the sp³ content between 53.5% and 66.7%, density between 2.54 and2.98 g/cm³, stress between 1.7 and 2.2 GPa, and hardness between 35 and 51 GPa. Furthermore, it was found that the density, stress and hardness correlate linearly with the sp³ content for composite SiN_x/DLC films.

Keywords

Silicon Nitride; Diamond-Like Carbon; Composite SiN_x/DLC Film; Filtered Cathodic arc

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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