Protection of Diamond-like Carbon Films from Energetic Atomic Oxygen Degradation Through Si-doping Technology

The effect of hyperthermal atomic oxygen (AO) exposure on the surface properties of Si-doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) was investigated. Two types of DLC were tested that contain approximately 10 at% and 20 at% of Si atoms. Surface analytical results of high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation (synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy; SR-PES) as well as Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) have been used for characterization of the AO-exposed Si-doped DLC. It was identified by SR-PES that a SiO2 layer was formed by the hyperthermal AO exposure at the Si-doped DLC surface. RBS data indicates that AO exposure leads to severe thickness loss on the undopedd DLC. In contrast, a SiO2 layer formed by the hyperthermal atomic oxygen reaction of Si-doped DLC protects the DLC underneath the SiO2 layer.