http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:303552/FULLTEXT01

The Mn+1AXn phases: Materials science and thin-film processing

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited by cathodic vacuum arc evaporation (CVAE) have attracted worldwide interest from research groups and industry since the beginning of the 1990s. Hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) coatings were first deposited by CVAE about two decades after the first description of hydrogenated a-C coatings (a-C:H) deposited by glow-discharge techniques. This paper highlights the development and broad potential of hard a-C coatings deposited by direct (DCVAE) and filtered (FCVAE) cathodic arc evaporation, including pulsed arc. DLC films offer a wide range of exceptional physical (optical, electrical), chemical (interaction with media), mechanical (hardness, elastic modulus), biomedical and tribological properties. Monolithic tetrahedrally-bonded hydrogen-free coatings (ta-C) provide the highest hardness, while various softer a-C coatings are also useful in some applications. Many film properties such as electrical conductivity and surface energy can be modified by alloying with elements such as H, N, Si, B, F, P and metals. Recent research and industrial solutions for generating DLC coatings by CVAE of carbon-based cathodes are described, and hybrid methods using metal cathodes and gas-phase sources are discussed. Coatings containing additional elements and having complex architectures are also discussed, and selected properties for various coating types are presented. The number of industrial applications of ta-C and a-C coatings continues to increase, mainly for tribological coatings to reduce wear and friction. Various applications of coatings deposited by CVAE are described, including data hard disks, engine parts, razor blades, valve seals, decorative coatings, cutting and forming tools, biomedical products and others.

60 years of DLC coatings: Historical highlights and technical review of cathodic arc processes to synthesize various DLC types, and their evolution for industrial applications

Nanotribology and MEMS

High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) is a coating technology that combines magnetron sputtering with pulsed power concepts. By applying power in pulses of high amplitude and a relatively low duty cycle, large fractions of sputtered atoms and near-target gases are ionized. In contrast to conventional magnetron sputtering, HiPIMS is characterized by self-sputtering or repeated gas recycling for high and low sputter yield materials, respectively, and both for most intermediate materials. The dense plasma in front of the target has the dual function of sustaining the discharge and providing plasma-assistance to film growth, affecting the microstructure of growing films. Many technologically interesting thin films are compound films, which are composed of one or more metals and a reactive gas, most often oxygen or nitrogen. When reactive gas is added, non-trivial consequences arise for the system because the target may become “poisoned,” i.e., a compound layer forms on the target surface affecting the sputtering yield and the yield of secondary electron emission and thereby all other parameters. It is emphasized that the target state depends not only on the reactive gas' partial pressure (balanced via gas flow and pumping) but also on the ion flux to the target, which can be controlled by pulse parameters. This is a critical technological opportunity for reactive HiPIMS (R-HiPIMS). The scope of this tutorial is focused on plasma processes and mechanisms of operation and only briefly touches upon film properties. It introduces R-HiPIMS in a systematic, step-by-step approach by covering sputtering, magnetron sputtering, reactive magnetron sputtering, pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering, HiPIMS, and finally R-HiPIMS. The tutorial is concluded by considering variations of R-HiPIMS known as modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering and deep-oscillation magnetron sputtering and combinations of R-HiPIMS with superimposed dc magnetron sputtering.

/pdf/tutorial-reactive-high-power-impulse-magnetron-sputtering-r-15903auf74.pdf

Tutorial: Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (R-HiPIMS)

https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/13636/1/Review_on_carbon-derived%252C_solid-state%252C_micro_and_nano_sensors_for_electrochemical_sensing_applications.pdf

Review on carbon-derived, solid-state, micro and nano sensors for electrochemical sensing applications

Magnetron sputtering – Milestones of 30 years

In this contribution we report for the first time on the successful integration of amorphous carbon (a-C) as a piezoresistive strain gauge into a silicon micro cantilever force sensor. Sputter-deposited a-C layers showing excellent tribological properties contain a percentage of nearly 20% of tetrahedral sp 3 carbon bonds as observed by optical absorption and Raman spectroscopy. Temperature-dependent transport measurements revealed hopping conduction between conducting sp 2 carbon sites embedded in the insulating skeletal matrix of sp 3 bonds. Changing their distance by strain a change of resistivity could be expected, which was investigated with layers sputter-deposited on a silicon membrane and structured by the lift-off technique using photo resist. Cantilevers comprising a-C strain gauges were etched out of this membrane using tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) solutions in a bulk silicon micromachining process. Realised prototypes were tested by applying a variable load to the cantilever free end. We found linear characteristics of the strain gauge resistance versus the applied force in the range of 0 to ±600 μN revealing piezoresistive gauge factors of a–C within 36–46.

Micro force sensor with piezoresistive amorphous carbon strain gauge

Transport and optical properties of amorphous carbon and hydrogenated amorphous carbon films

Magnetron Sputtering ‐ Milestones of 30 Years

Sputter-deposited amorphous diamond-like carbon (DLC, a-C) on silicon has been investigated with respect to micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) applications. Sputtered a-C with a content of diamond-like sp3 bonded carbon of around 25% showed a high hardness of up to 30 GPa. Self-supporting cantilevers of 0.5 µm in thickness, several hundreds of µm in length and some tens of µm in width have been successfully realized using lift-off patterning of DLC and anisotropic silicon etching. The mechanical properties of DLC (Young's modulus, stress, stress gradient fracture strength) were characterized by cantilever deflection analyses. DLC strain gauge resistors integrated on micromachined silicon boss membranes were investigated under tensile and compressive loading. Piezoresistive gauge factors in the range of 20–30 were observed at temperatures between room temperature and 50 °C.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0960-1317/17/7/S04/pdf

Ralf Bandorf

Papers

Magnetron sputtering – Milestones of 30 years

Micro force sensor with piezoresistive amorphous carbon strain gauge

Transport and optical properties of amorphous carbon and hydrogenated amorphous carbon films

Magnetron Sputtering ‐ Milestones of 30 Years

Diamond-like carbon for MEMS