The uniqueness of the properties of silicon–carbon and silicon–metal–carbon films, which are representatives of the nanocrystalline and amorphous classes of carbon allotropes, leads to a wide range of areas of their possible applications. In this study, the dynamics of the development of technologies for obtaining and expanding the areas of application of silicon–carbon and silicon–metal–carbon films is analyzed. Thus, the elasticity, the mechanical strength (1500–3000 kg/mm2), and the chemical stability of films ensure the effectiveness of their applications as passivating coatings. Thermal conductivity and a high emissivity factor (0.8), high elastic-modulus values (9 × 1011 N/m2), the high resistivity of silicon–carbon films (105–108 Ohm cm), and their transparency to electromagnetic radiation (up to frequencies of several tens of gigahertz) allow them to be used in broadband radio-frequency devices as moveable elements (beams, bridges, membranes) of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches and varactors. The thermal resistance (up to 600°C in an open system), the rather high electrical conductivity (the specific resistance is 10–5 Ohm cm), and the high emissivity of the films make it possible to form silicon–metal–carbon films based on heating-type broadband radiators with a radiation spectrum depending on the film temperature in the range of 2–14 μm. Phase transformations of the amorphous silicon–carbon film into a graphene film, which are carried out by means of high-temperature annealing in vacuum in the presence of a catalyst, allow the formation on this basis of control electrodes with low grid current losses (no more than 5

The results of investigations of solar-blind image converter tubes (ICTs), sensitive in the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) spectral range are presented. Sensitive-conversion layers of photocathodes based on boron-doped polycrystalline diamond films were grown up on sapphire substrates for the first time. Electron flow multipliers (EFMs) were fabricated in the form of diamond grid. Solar-blind VUV ICTs without the EFM are characterized by spectral sensitivity range of 180...250 nm, estimate of the threshold sensitivity value -10-9 W/Hz0.5 and current sensitivity -12 - 15 mA/W. Solar-blind VUV ICTs comprising the electron flow multipliers are characterized by extended spectral sensitivity range of 180...270 nm, improved estimate of the threshold sensitivity value 10-11... 5 x 10-12 W/Hz 0.5 and current sensitivity 50 mA/W.

The results of investigations of solar-blind image converter tubes (ICTs), sensitive in the ultraviolet spectral range are presented. Photocathodes sensitive layers of the ICT are based on boron-doped polycrystalline diamond films were grown up on sapphire substrates for the first time. Spectral range of the ICT sensitivity is 180…250 nm, the threshold sensitivity value without the electron flow multiplier ~ 10-9 W/Hz0.5 and spectral sensitivity ~ 12 - 15 mA/W.

Ultraviolet solar-blind electron-optical converters with photocathode sensor layers made of polycrystalline boron-doped diamond films, which were for the first time grown on sapphire, are studied. The spectral sensitivity range of the obtained converters is 180–250 nm, the threshold sensitivity without the electron flux multiplier is no worse than ∼10–9 W/Hz0.5, and the spectral sensitivity is 12–15 mA/W.

The characteristics of composite carbon films are experimentally studied. The films are synthesized under concurrent conditions of the magnetron and plasmatron sputtering of molybdenum disilicide and polyphenyl methylsiloxane (PPMS 2/5). Automodulation of the elemental and phase composition is found and studied in the direction of film deposition onto the substrate. The stability of the automodulation parameters to subsequent high-temperature annealing is examined.

Scanning probe microscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, local reflection spectroscopy, and Raman spectrometry were used to determine the correlation between the optical and structural properties of amorphous carbon-silicon a-C:H:Si films and to study the role of the atomic structure during the formation of conical nanoobjects under an electric field in a scanning probe microscope (SPM) lithograph. Based on an analysis of the experimental data, it was shown that films in the initial state are distinguished by a high disorder of the cluster structure. The film material is restructured during the SPM exposure, which is accompanied by the formation of the sp 3 -bound atomic structure and nanostructuring of the sp 2 -bound carbon; in this case, the refractive index decreases by a factor of ∼0.6. The latter is explained by the presence of voids in the modified material.

Combining Bulk Silicon Micromachining (BSM) with Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) thin film technology can be favourable used to make high performance MEMS devices. We highlight the versatility of BSM combined with the unique features of our proprietary DLC thin film technology to make high performance MEMS devices at favourable cost. A high performance infrared emitter has been designed and commercialised, with the most distinctive features being high speed with a modulation depth of more than 100 HZ, broadband IR emission from 1 to 20 micrometers, more than 10% power efficiency, and a lifetime beyond 100,000 hours. These emitters are already in use in system applications like non-dispersive infrared gas sensors.

The results of a study of a new type of regular carbon nanostructures, namely, nanocones on the film surfaces of carbon-silicon composites of the (a-C:H):Si type are given in this paper. Nanocones appear under the action of the electric field of the probe of an air-operated scanning probe microscope (SPM) in the case where the values of the voltage amplitude and the exposure times exceed the threshold ones. The produced nanoobjects preserve their shapes at thermal annealing up to 700°C. It is assumed that the process of nanocone formation is related to the local transformation of the carbon-silicon composite structure from the amorphous to the nanocrystalline state in the electric field of the SPM probe.

Structural properties of carbon-silicon composite films, grown by PE CVD technique on Si substrates, were examined using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning probe microscopy (SPM) before and after SPM tip-induced actions. Metal-free (a-C:H):Si films were found to be considered as a polymer-like material with either amorphous or nanocrystalline structure, consisting of hydrocarbon chains with different molecular masses and lengths. For Mo-doped films, a higher content of structurally ordered atomic groups was registered as compared to the metal-free films.A new effect of nanostructuring, i.e. the formation of nanocones under the action of local electric field in the metal-free films, was observed. Evidence was obtained in favor of local recrystallization of the nanoscale regions of the amorphous material under the SPM actions. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Some aspects of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) - based nanostructuring of (a-C:H):Si composite films, including (i) correlations between geometrical and electrical properties of modified regions during SPM actions, (ii) deviations of the nanocone shape under heat treatment, and (iii) the influence of ambient humidity on the nanocone growth, were studied. The investigations revealed an initial period of SPM actions, during which no modification of the film surface was registered. On finishing this period, the film conductivity was found to rapidly decrease, and just at this moment the nanocone growth started. The formed nanocone kept its shape after heat treatments up to 700 degrees C under vacuum conditions of similar to 100 Pa. It was also found that the higher the humidity, the faster was the nanocone growth. The latter was accompanied by the formation of a corrugated pedestal. The nature of the observed phenomenon is discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this work, we report on a new effect of nanostructuring, namely the formation of nano-cones under the action of local electric field in carbon-silicon composite films. The original films of 20-100 nm thick were deposited on Si substrates by a CVD method, where silicon-organic liquid siloxane was used as a plasma-forming substance of the open plasmatron. Experiments on the film nanostructuring were carried out in the air-operated scanning probe microscopy (SPM) setup using cantilevers coated with Pt layers as the probes for SPM actions in contact mode, and also for testing the samples before and after the actions. To induce the electric field underneath the probe, a series (N=1-1000) of rectangular voltage pulses with the magnitude U up to 10 V and duration T=1-1000 ms were applied between the sample and the grounded probe at regular points of the scanned area.

Diamond-like carbon films are widely used in engineering application where dry and boundary sliding conditions are encountered. They have attractive tribological properties as low friction, high hardness, chemical inertness [1–3]. In this paper the results of investigations of the physical and tribological properties of ta-C coatings deposited on hard substrate are presented. For comparison a series of tests was carried out with carbide tungsten thermal spray coatings. Experiments on wear and friction ware conducted on different kinematical schemes such as “plane-plane” and “sleeve-sleeve” in condition without lubricant and in water with abrasive respectively. It was found that ta-C films have a lower speed of wear and coefficient of friction especially without lubricant and higher critical load as compared with thermal spray coatings.

Hard amorphous DLC films were deposited onto ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and metallic substrates (Ti, Co–Cr–Mo, stainless steel 138F) used as biomaterials by pulsed arc discharge using a carbon source accelerator in 2×10−4 Pa vacuum. DLC films were analyzed by Auger electron spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, nanoindentation, scratch test and Rockwell indentation. Dry friction coefficient of films deposited on UHMWPE and stainless steel were also investigated. The results obtained are discussed with literature data.

The diamond-like carbon films CrSiDLC and MoSiDLC for low resistant thermostable resistors were deposited by the CVD method with open plasmatron with (C2H5)3SiO[CH3C6H5SiO]3Si(CH3)3 as plasma-forming substance. The film was doped with Mo and Cr by magnetron evaporation of the metal target in Ar atmosphere. Pressure in the chamber was 5×10−2 Pa, magnetron current was 2 A, the plasmatron arc discharge current was 6 A. The growth rate was 0.05 μm/min. The thin film resistors were studied at the temperature 700–800°C. The resistors deposited on the glass ceramic substrates were made in the form of strips 9 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. The film thickness was 0.4–0.5 μm. The following electrical properties were determined: resistivity and volt–ampere characteristics; thermal coefficient of resistance and activation energy of the conductivity processes; and degradation process dynamic. The resistivity was in average 2×10−3 Ω cm. The temperature dependence of the resistance was sublinear. The thermal coefficient of resistance was 1.7×10−4 Ω K−1. The activation energy was 30 meV. The fulfilled studies of the electrical properties of the films CrSiDLC and MoSiDLC showed the possibility of their application as thermostable resistors.

Quasi-amorphous hard diamond-like carbon ta-C films with microhardness more than 50 GPa were obtained by pulse are discharge method using a carbon source-accelerator with graphite cathode together with are discharge source-accelerator for metal plasma in a vacuum of 2 x 10(-4) Pa. This method of ta-C film deposition has a number of advantages, basic of them are the possibility to obtain ta-C films of different thickness with good adhesion to the substrate and also to control energy and heat loading dose during the deposition process. Besides, only pulse are discharge method allows to achieve high deposition rate (the average value was 20 nm/s) and to maintain low substrate temperature (T < 323 K). The dependencies of the internal stress, Young's modulus, microhardness, density in carbon condensate as a function of the main deposition parameters (ions energy, substrate temperature) were studied. It was shown that for ta-C films obtained by the said above method the stress fields play a significant role in the forming of carbon condensate with mechanical properties close to the natural diamond. The role of mechanical compression stress in forming of the specific surface relief of the condensate while growing of the ta-C coating was discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Aluminium nitride coating was obtained with the stationary vacuum arc source with separation (filtration) of aluminium plasma flow and nitrogen leak-in into the vacuum chamber at substrate temperature 313–673 K. The growth rate was 5–7 μm/h. The crystal structure of aluminium nitride films with thickness 10–30 nm deposited on monocrystalline NaCl substrate was studied by electron diffraction method. The aluminium nitride coatings with thickness 1–3 μm were investigated by X-ray examination methods. It was determined that the aluminium nitride coating with the thickness up to 30 nm has amorphous structure through the whole deposition temperature range. At the film thickness exceeding 1 μm the coating structure is crystalline with hexagonal lattice. The microhardness of the aluminium nitride coating was 18–20 GPa and their resistivity was 1–2×1011 Ω cm. The aluminium nitride coating with thickness 1–3 μm deposited on stainless steel samples preserves them from high temperature oxidation up to 1473 K. It was found out by forcing an indenter and by scribing that the aluminium nitride coating obtained at the mentioned substrate temperatures possesses good adhesion to steel, titanium, silicon, glass, sapphire substrates. Studies of optical characteristics of the aluminium nitride coating showed the possibility of its application as optically sensitive coating.

A superhard hydrogen-free amorphous diamond-like carbon (DLC) film was deposited by pulsed arc discharge using a carbon source accelerator in a vacuum of 2×10−4Pa. The growth rate was about 15nm/min and the optimum ion-plasma energy was about 70eV. The impact of doping elements (Cu, Zr, Ti, Al, F(Cl), N) on the characteristics of DLC films deposited on metal and silicon substrates was studied aiming at the choice of the optimum coating for low friction couples. The microhardness of thick (≥20μm) DLC films was studied by Knoop and Vickers indentations, medium thick DLC films (1–3μm) were investigated using a ‘Fischerscope’, and Young's module of thin films (20–70nm) was studied by laser induced surface acoustic waves. The bonds in DLC films were investigated by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), X-ray excited Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The adhesion of DLC films was defined by the scratch test and Rockwell indentation. The coefficient of friction of the Patinor DLC film was measured by a rubbing cylinders test and by a pin-on-disk test in laboratory air at about 20% humidity and room temperature. The microhardness of the Patinor DLC film was up to 100GPa and the density of the film was 3.43–3.65g/cm3. The specific wear rate of the Patinor DLC film is comparable to that of other carbon films.

Results for diamond-like carbon films (DLFs) deposited by a vacuum plasma technique from a carbon plasma stream and tested for wear resistance, strength, hardness, erosion resistance, and friction are reported. It is shown that use of DLFs as protective coatings can extend the service life of machine parts and tools exposed to wear.