Structural and mechanical properties of amorphous silicon-carbon alloy films deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique

Amorphous silicon-carbon alloy films have been successfully deposited by fi ltered cathodic vacuum are technique. The structural and mechanical propert ies of the films were investigated by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscop y (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, surface profiler and nano-indenter. The silico n content in the films determined by XPS measurement varies from 2.4 to 48 at.%. Both XPS and Raman spectroscopy show the existence of silicon carbide clusters in the films containing intermediate concentration of silicon. Th e silicon atoms predominately substitute the carbon atom into the carbon cl usters at low silicon concentration, and form amorphous silicon carbide clu sters or amorphous silicon clusters at high silicon concentration. The hard ness of the films varies from 60 to 22 GPa while the stress reduces from 8. 0 to 2.1 GPa.