Si-doping for the Protection of Hydrogenated Diamond-like Carbon Films in a Simulated Atomic Oxygen Environment in Low Earth Orbit

Abstract

The effect of hyperthermal atomic oxygen (AO) exposure on a surface property of Si-doped DLC was investigated. Two types of DLC were tested which contain Si atoms approximately 10 at% and 20 at%. Surface analytical results of high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation (synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy; SR-PES) as well as Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) have been used for characterization of the AO-exposed Si-doped DLC. It was identified by SR-PES that the SiO₂ layer was formed by the hyperthermal AO exposure at the Si-doped DLC surface. RBS data indicates that AO exposure leads to severe thickness loss on the non-dope DLC, in contrast, SiO₂ layer formed by the hyperthermal atomic oxygen reaction at the Si-doped DLC protects the DLC underneath the SiO₂ layer.