i-CxSiyOzHw Films Formed by Ion Beam Assisted Deposition

Abstract

ABSTRACTi-CxSiyOzHw films were formed by thermal evaporation of a tetraphenyl-tetramethyl-trisiloxane diffusion pump oil onto silicon and steel substrates with simultaneous bombardment of the growing film with 40 keV Ar+ ions to decompose the (C6H5)4(CH3)4Si3O2 molecules. Both the current density of the ion beam and the oil arrival rate were varied to produce hard, adhesive films on room temperature substrates, with densities ranging from 1.4 to 2.3 g/cm3 and Knoop microhardness values (at 15 g load) from 1000 to 2100. Unlubricated friction coefficients against a 440C steel ball with a 50 g load ranged from 0.03 to 0.40, depending on deposition conditions, and all films were more wear-resistant than the substrate materials. The films were examined with RBS, hydrogen forward recoil scattering, SEM, TEM, photon tunneling microscopy, electron diffraction, and ellipsometry to ascertain and correlate their chemical compositions and microstructures with their mechanical/chemical properties (microhardness, adhesion, friction and wear).