Tetrahedrally Bonded Amorphous Carbon Films I

This book presents the status quo of the structure, preparation, properties and applications of tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon (ta-C) films and compares them with related film systems. Tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon films (ta-C) combine some of the outstanding properties of diamond with the versatility of amorphous materials. The book compares experimental results with the predictions of theoretical analyses, condensing them to practicable rules. It is strictly application oriented, emphasizing the exceptional potential of ta-C for tribological coatings of tools and components.

World experts in amorphous carbon have been drawn together to produce this comprehensive commentary on the current state and future prospects of amorphous carbon, a highly functional material. Amorphous carbon has a wide range of properties that are primarily controlled by the different bond hybridisations possible in such materials. This allows for the growth of an extensive range of thin films that can be tailored for specific applications. Films can range from those with high transparency and which are hard and diamond-like, through to those which are opaque, soft and graphitic-like. Application areas including field emission cathodes, MEMs, electronic devices, medical and optical coatings are now close to market.

Amorphous, hydrogenated carbon (AHC) films can be deposited on various substrates using several techniques, e.g. plasma deposition and ion beam deposition. The resulting films can be hard, wear resistant and transparent.

Diamond-like carbon is amorphous carbon with a high degree of sp3 bonding, and is widely used for hard coatings and field emission cathodes. This book contains reviews by leading workers in the field, covering the topics of deposition methods, deposition mechanisms, atomic structure, surface atomic structure, electronic structure calculations, Raman, doping, luminescence, electron field emission, mechanical properties and tribology.

The aim of this NATO ASI has been to present an up-to-date overview of current areas of interest in amorphous materials, with particular emphasis on electronic properties and device applications. In order to limit the material to a manageable amount, the meeting was concerned almost exclusively with semiconducting materials. This volume should be regarded as a follow-on to the NATO ASI held in Sozopol, Bulgaria in 1996 and published as "Amorphous Insulators and Semiconductors" edited by M.F. Thorpe and M.1. Mitkova (Kluwer Academic Publishers, NATO ASI series, 3 High Technology - Vol. 23). The lectures and seminars fill the gap between graduate courses and research seminars. The lecturers and seminar speakers were chosen as experts in their respective areas, and the lectures and seminars that were given are presented in this volume. During the first week of the meeting, an emphasis was placed on introductory lectures while the second week focused more on research seminars. There were two very good poster sessions that generated a lot of discussion, but these are not reproduced in this volume as the editors wanted to have only larger contributions to make the proceedings more coherent.

Diamond is an extreme material among possible atomic aggregations in nature, and as such has many extreme properties. This unique position makes it a fascinating subject both for science and for applications. This has been particularly true in recent years, since the surprising discovery at Union Carbide (1953) of the possibility of chemical vapour deposition of diamond films at low pressures, where diamond is metastable with respect to graphite. This discovery cleared the way to the development of economical deposition techniques that have been obtaining progressively better-quality diamond, both pure and doped, in a controlled way and for a variety of applications. The remarkable properties and applications range from mechanical (the extreme hardness, tensile and compressive strength, wear performance) to thermal (the highest conductivity), optical (wide range of transparency), chemical (inertness to most chemicals), biological (biocompatibility) and electronic (high electronic carrier mobility, large band gap and dielectric breakdown strength, negative electron affinity), with the simultaneous presence of so many extraordinary qualities often resulting in added value for a given application.We are presently at a turning point in the development of diamond physics and applications. While some achievements can be considered well established, on the other hand, new opportunities and challenges are facing the scientific community, particularly with regard to novel exciting deposition processes and techniques or new properties and applications in electronics. This Enrico Fermi Course on "The Physics of Diamond" is particularly focused on the new developments and prospects, which may well constitute a reference point for a new generation of scientists at what may possibly be the beginning of a new age in diamond. The course attracted several of the most distinguished experts in the field as lecturers and an audience of almost as distinguished students and observers from 19 countries. Participation and discussions were lively to the very last day, ranging from traditional diamond physics to new diamond physics, and from well-known applications to the new exciting opportunities.The material in this volume is organized in the following way: the first part (13 lectures) is essentially devoted to growth and structure, the second part to properties and applications, with a closing lecture exploring new exotic diamonds in the distant future. The earlier lectures extensively cover the many processes of plasma chemical vapour deposition, including advanced contributions in theoretical modelling of these processes. Novel deposition mechanisms are considered: low-temperature CVD and laser-activated processes, including the so-called QQC experiments. This first part closes with a discussion of amorphous phases. In the second part, particular emphasis is placed on electronic properties and applications. This includes an extensive discussion of doping and, in addition, the promising perspectives of diamond as an electron emitter. Its newly discovered remarkable electron affinity properties lead to a new dimension in research and development, of great strategical importance for an increasing role of diamond in electronics.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of low-energy ion–solid interaction from basic principles to advanced applications in materials science. It features a balanced and insightful approach to the fundamentals of the low-energy ion–solid surface interaction, focusing on relevant topics such as interaction potentials, kinetics of binary collisions, ion range, radiation damages, and sputtering. Additionally, the book incorporates key updates reflecting the latest relevant results of modern research on topics such as topography evolution and thin-film deposition under ion bombardment, ion beam figuring and smoothing, generation of nanostructures, and ion beam-controlled glancing angle deposition. Filling a gap of almost 20 years of relevant research activity, this book offers a wealth of information and up-to-date results for graduate students, academic researchers, and industrial scientists working in these areas.