Tungsten-carbon thin films have been deposited by reactive (Ar + C6H6)
DC magnetron sputtering onto various substrates. Deposition onto glas
s, monocrystalline silicon, tantalum and stainless steel at room tempe
rature yielded W-C films, having XRD patterns corresponding to the str
ucture of heavily disordered W2C or WC1-x carbides. The samples deposi
ted upon the Au or Cu foils were nanocrystalline cubic WC1-x with the
grain size of 2.9 nm. Disordered tungsten-carbon films were stable up
to 1200 degrees C, Microhardness of the films with disordered W2C phas
e was about 5-6 GPa while that of the films with disordered WC1-x phas
e was about 17 GPa. The characteristics of films can be understood con
sidering the effects of the incorporation of free carbon and/or carbon
-hydrogen fragments into the tungsten carbide layer. (C) 1998 Elsevier
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