A hybrid plasma process has been employed to prepare metal/carbon nanocomposite thin films. This process combines magnetron sputtering of metal target and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using methane as a precursor for carbon deposition. Two metals have been selected for this study: titanium and nickel.
These films can be synthesized in a wide range of chemical composition from pure metal to pure carbon by varying the methane ratio in the argon/methane plasma.
The microstructure analysis revealed that the Ti containing carbon films were formed of TiC nanoparticles embedded in a hydrogenated amorphous carbon matrix. By adjusting the carbon content within the films, the size of the nanoparticles can be controlled in the 3-30 nm range.
For Ni/C thin films, an original microstructure corresponding to Ni nanowires embedded in an amorphous carbon phase has been identified.
| Subject : | : | Abstract |
| Topics | : | Posters session A |
| Keywords | : | sputtering ; thin films ; nanocomposites ; nickel ; titanium ; carbon |
| PDF version | : |  PDF version |
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