Adhesion and mechanical properties of amorphic diamond films prepared by a laser plasma discharge source

Amorphic diamond films can be grown in an ultrahigh vacuum environment free from hydrogen with a laser plasma discharge source. This technique produces films that adhere more readily to materials for which there are important applications as protective coatings. In this work adhesion and mechanical properties of amorphic diamond films have been examined. A beam bending method has been used to measure the internal stress and a relatively low value of compressive stress was found. The dependence of stress on the laser intensities at the graphite ablation target has been studied. Analyses of these films on silicon, SiO₂, ZnS, and TiAl₆V₄ by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry show significant interfacial layers with compositions of SiC, C_0.5SiO₂, C_2.5ZnS, and C_0.62Ti_0.35Al_0.05V_0.02, respectively. Adhesion properties on ZnS and other substrates have also been examined for harsh environments. The mechanical properties of hardness, Young's modulus, and stiffness have been obtained with a nanoindentation technique. These results together with the minimal amount of hydrogen in our process, make amorphic diamond an excellent candidate for direct deposition on several substrates including ZnS.