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Toward a Better Understanding of the Influence of the Hydrocarbon Precursor on the Mechanical Properties of a‐C:H Coatings Synthesized by a Hybrid PECVD/PVD Method
Author(s) -
Thiry Damien,
De Vreese Aurore,
Renaux Fabian,
Colaux Julien L.,
Lucas Stéphane,
Guinet Yannick,
Paccou Laurent,
Bousser Etienne,
Snyders Rony
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.201500050
Subject(s) - plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition , materials science , hydrogen , branching (polymer chemistry) , hydrocarbon , chemical engineering , thin film , polymer chemistry , composite material , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , engineering
In this work, we provide new insight on the influence of the precursor (CH 4 vs. C 2 H 2 ) on the mechanical properties of a‐C:H coatings synthesized in a hybrid PECVD/PVD process. For a given set of plasma parameters, the films synthesized in CH 4 /Ar gas mixture are found harder than the ones prepared in C 2 H 2 /Ar atmosphere despite their lower sp 3 density and similar hydrogen content. This unusual behavior is attributed to different molecular organization of the polymeric network constituting the films. The latter is explained considering the influence of the chemical nature of the film‐forming species on the cross‐linking and branching degree of the films. The whole set of our results unambiguously demonstrates that additional factors than the sp 3 and hydrogen content have to be considered for explaining the mechanical properties of a‐C:H layers.