NITROGEN SPUTTERING GAS EFFECT ON CARBON THIN FILMS

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  Carbon thin films, were prepared by RF diode sputtering of a graphite target in an mixture of nitrogen and argon plasma. A series of carbon thin films was deposited as a function of nitrogen partial pressure and on different substrates. We observed a systematic variation of film properties with increasing nitrogen partial pressure which suggests that nitrogen will stabilize the diamond sp³ bonding in the films. The friction coefficient is also reduced as the nitrogen partial pressure is increased. For films prepared at low nitrogen partial pressure, the friction coefficient is 0.4. At higher nitrogen partial pressure, the friction coefficient reduced to the steady state value of 0.2.