INDENTATION CREEP OF NITROGEN-CONTAINING CARBON-FILMS

An Indentation creep test has been used to investigate tile micro-mech anical properties of nitrogen-containing carbon films. The time-depend ent indentation depth of the nitrogen containing carbon films indicate s a monotonic increase at the initial stage of creep procedure and rem ains constant. Using results of the slope of the time-displacement rel ation at the initial stage of creep procedure. the strain rate sensiti vity exponent m and the k value which is equivalent to viscosity are o btained. The m and k values rapidly decrease with increasing depositio n temperature, although the nano-indeuter hardness test cannot be used to clarify differences in the mechanical properties of the deposited films. We present results that indicate that the nano-indentation cree p technique enables clarification of the micro-mechanical properties o f nitrogen-containing carbon films.