Effect of the evaporation temperature of an organic precursor on the properties of silicon containing diamond-like carbon (Si-DLC) coatings synthesized by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD)

Hard, adherent, and low friction amorphous silicon containing diamond-like carbon coatings (Si-DLC) have been synthesized both by 40 keV and 2.5 keV Ar/sup +/ ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) of a tetraphenyl-tetramethyl-trisiloxane (C/sub 6/H/sub 5/)/sub 4/(CH/sub 3/)/sub 4/Si/sub 3/O/sub 2/ oil onto silicon wafer substrates. The sp/sup 3//sp/sup 2/ bonding ratio of the coatings was investigated with the aid of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Microspectroscopy and Valence Band X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, the effect of the oil evaporation rate on film morphology is also discussed.