Structural and mechanical properties of amorphous silicon-carbon alloy films deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique

Amorphous silicon-carbon alloy films have been successfully deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. The structural and mechanical properties of the films were investigated by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, surface profiler and nano-indenter. The silicon content in the films determined by XPS measurement varies from 2.4 to 48 at.%. Both XPS and Raman spectroscopy show the existence of silicon carbide dusters in the films containing intermediate concentration of silicon. The silicon atoms predominately substitute the carbon atom into the carbon dusters at low silicon concentration, and form amorphous silicon carbide clusters or amorphous silicon clusters at high silicon concentration. The hardness of the films varies from 60 to 22 GPa while the stress reduces from 8.0 to 2.1 GPa.