Structure and Mechanical Properties of Si Incorporated Diamond-like Carbon Films Prepared by PACVD

 Although tribological behaviors of Si incorporated DLC films have been intensely investigated, their mechanical properties were not consistent among previous publications. The present work reported the structural change by adding Si, and their effects on the mechanical properties. Si incorporated DLC films were deposited using mixtures of benzene and diluted silane with hydrogen of various volume fractions. We could obtain the films of X_Si (defined by the Si fraction without considering hydrogen) ranging from 0.001 to 0.21, and found that the mechanical properties of the films changed significantly in the range less than X_Si=0.06. In this range, the hardness and stress increased with XSi. For higher content of Si, the hardness and stress showed saturated behavior with XSi. This behavior was discussed in terms of the changes in atomic bond structures.