The preparation of ultra hard nitrogenated DLC film by $N_2^+$ implantation

Hydrogen free diamond like carbon (DLC) films were prepared on steel substrates by using a single ion beam in a configuration that allowed sputtering of a graphite target and at the same time allowed to impact the substrate at a grazing angle. The DLC films so prepared have improved properties with increased disorder and with modest hardness that is slightly higher than previously reported values. We have studied the effects of $N_2^+$ ions implantation on such films. It is found that the implantations of nitrogen ions into DLC films lead to chemical modifications that allowed N atoms to be incorporated into the carbon network to produce a nitrogenated DLC. Nano-indentation experiments indicated that the nitrogenated films have consistently higher hardnesses ranging from 30 to 45GPa, which represents a considerable increase in surface hardness, compared with non-nitrogenated precursor films. The investigations by XPS and Raman spectroscopy suggests that the $N_2^+$ implanted DLCs had undergone both chemical and structural modifications through the incorporation of N atoms and the increased ratio of $sp^3/sp^2$ type bonding. The observed high hardness was therefore attributable to these structural and chemical modifications. This result has implication for the preparation of super hard wear resistant films required for tribological functions in devices.