Formation of a Whisker-Like Morphology on the Surface of a Carbon Fiber under Magnetron Sputtering

The effect of irradiation with hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, and neon ions with an average energy of 0.8 keV on the surface morphology under the magnetron sputtering of a high-modular carbon fiber made of polyacrylonitrile is studied experimentally. In all cases, a whisker-like relief is formed on the surface. The greatest height of whiskers is obtained under irradiation with nitrogen and neon ions, while the lowest height and a lower density of whiskers is obtained under irradiation with hydrogen ions. Comparison with the irradiation of polyacrylonitrile carbon fiber with noble gas and nitrogen ions with energies of 10–30 keV shows that the whisker-like morphology complements the variety of types of ion-induced fiber surface morphology. The results obtained are discussed within the framework of existing models of the formation of ion-induced morphological elements on the surface of graphite-like materials. It is assumed that there is a threshold in the number of radiation-induced displacements created in the surface layer, leading to the observed qualitative difference in ion-induced morphology at low and high energies. The evaluations of the displacement profiles for the case of irradiation with hydrogen ions show several-fold fewer displacements than for other ions, which correlates with the observed differences in whiskering by selected ions and whisker-growth factors observed in the experiment performed.