ENDRINO ARMENTEROS, JOSÉ LUIS, Horwat D. , Anders A. , Andersson J. , Gago R.
Si
Plasma Process. Polym.
Conference Paper
Científica
0.788
01/01/2009
000272302900088
2-s2.0-77954937490
The influence of annealing in argon at 300°C on the conductivity, phase stability and electronic structure of hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) films containing copper (aC:Cu) and gold (a-C:Au) nanoclusters was investigated. The motivation of this work is twofold: (1) to study the thermal stability of a-C:Cu and a-C:Au films and (2) to point out the relevance of X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) technique to study the structural evolution of metal-doped a-C nanocomposites. The films were produced at room temperature using a selective-bias pulsed dual-cathode arc deposition technique. Compositional analysis was performed with secondary neutral mass spectroscopy whereas grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) was used to monitor phase transformation and identify the dispersion or agglomeration of the crystallites within the carbon matrix. XANES spectra at the C-K was used to investigate the effect of annealing in argon on the electronic structure of the a-C matrix, while Cu K and Au L-edges were investigated on a-C:Cu and a-C:Au samples, respectively, to study the nanocluster evolution. XANES showed that the a-C host matrix increased its graphitic character and that stress was relieved upon annealing. No relevant changes were observed in the Au arrangements in a-C:Au films. In the case of the a-C:Cu samples, the Cu-K XANES spectra indicated the formation of Cu2O crystals which correlated well with GIXRD spectra and the decrease in conductivity. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KCaA, Weinheim.
Amorphous carbon (a-C); Arc deposition; Au film; Carbon matrix; Cathodic arc; Compositional analysis; Diamond like carbon; Gold Nanoparticles; Graphitic characters; Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction; Host matrices; matrix; Metal-doped; Phase transformation; Plasma immersion implantation and deposition; Plasma immersion implantations; Room temperature; Secondary neutral mass spectroscopy; Structural evolution; Thermal stability; X-ray absorption near-edge structure; XAFS; XANES; XANES spectra; Agglomeration; Amorphous carbon; Amorphous films; Annealing; Argon; Copper; Electronic properties; Electronic structure; Gold; Gold coatings; Gold deposits; Mass spectrometry; Nanoclusters; Phase stability; Plasma deposition; Synchrotrons; Thermodynamic stability; X ray diffraction; X ray diffraction analysis; Carbon films