Fracture resistance enhancement of diamond-like carbon/nitrogenated diamond-like carbon multilayer deposited by electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition

Diamond-like carbon (DLC), nitrogenated diamond-like carbon (CN_x) and multilayered DLC/CN_x films of 350 nm overall thickness were deposited on Si (100) substrates by using an electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition system. The deposited films were investigated for the fracture resistance using nanoindentation and nanoscratch methods in combination with scanning electron microscopy. In nanoindentation fracture tests, the film fracture was detected by the discontinuities in the load-displacement curves. The abrupt increase in the friction force between the tip and films during nanoscratch fracture tests was taken as a criterion for film fracture. Both the nanoindentation and nanoscratch fracture tests revealed that the DLC/CN_x multilayer exhibited substantially higher critical load than that measured for either DLC or CN_x films, though there was no obvious enhancement in the multilayer hardness and elastic modulus while the multilayer internal stress was between that of DLC and CN_x. This study suggests that the fracture resistance of hard coatings can be improved by the design of a suitable multilayer structure. © 2001 American Vacuum Society.