Carbon Nitride and Carbon Fluoride Thin Films Prepared by HiPIMS

I Abstract The present thesis focuses on carbon-based thin films prepared by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS). Carbon nitride (CN x : 0 < x < 0.20) as well as carbon fluoride (CF x : 0.04 < x < 0.35) thin films were synthesized in an industrial deposition chamber by reactive magnetron sputtering of graphite in Ne/N 2 , Ar/N 2 , Kr/N 2 , Ar/CF 4 , and Ar/C 4 F 8 atmospheres. In order to increase the understanding of the deposition processes of C in the corresponding reactive gas mixture plasmas, ion mass spectroscopy was carried out. Additionally, a detailed evaluation of target current and target voltage waveforms was performed when graphite was sputtered in HiPIMS mode. First principle calculations targeting the growth of CF x thin films revealed most probable film-forming species as well as CF x film structure-defining defects. In order to set different process parameters into relation with thin film properties, the synthesized carbon-based thin films were characterized with regards to their chemical composition, chemical bonding, and microstructure. A further aspect was the thin film characterization for possible applications. For this, mainly nanoindentation and contact angle measurements were performed. Theoretical calculations and the results from the characterization of the deposition processes were successfully related to the thin film properties. The reactive graphite/N 2 /inert gas HiPIMS discharge yielded high ion energies as well as elevated C + and N + abundances. Under such conditions, amorphous CN x thin films with hardnesses of up to 40 GPa were deposited. Elastic, fullerene like CN x thin films, on the other hand, were deposited at increased substrate temperatures in HiPIMS discharges exhibiting moderate to low ion energies. Here, a pulse assisted chemical sputtering at the target and the substrate was found to support the formation of a fullerene-like microstructure. CF x thin films with fluorine contents of 29 at% and more possess surface energies equivalent to super-hydrophobic materials, while such films are polymeric in nature ABSTRACT II accounting for hardnesses below 1 GPa. Whereas, carbon-based films with fluorine contents ranging between 16 % and 26 % exhibit a graphitic character. For those films, the hardness increases with decreasing fluorine content, ranging between 16 GPa and 4 GPa Moreover high elastic recoveries of up to 98% were found for these thin films. The HiPIMS process in fluorine-containing atmosphere was found to be …