Investigating of Structural Evolution of Diamond-Like Carbon Thin Film Applied by Ion Beam Deposition Technology under the Effect of Substrate Temperature

The substrate temperature plays an important role in the mobility of carbon species as well as the formation and growth mechanism of the amorphous carbon layers with diamond-like characteristics. The amorphous carbon structure can be transformed into the diamond- and graphite-like structure under the effect of substrate temperature. Given that, this study aimed to investigate the structural evolution of the diamond-like carbon coating followed by changing the substrate temperature through the radio frequency direct ion beam deposition. In this regard, the substrate temperature values were obtained as 80, 110, and 140 °C for the deposition of DLC coatings. Raman and X-Ray Spectroscopy (XPS) analyzes were done to evaluate the structure and chemical composition of the coatings. To further investigate the thickness and roughness of the applied coatings, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) were used. According to the results, the lowest roughness value of the diamond-like carbon coating surface was obtained at the substrate temperature of 110 °C. In addition, the lowest value of ID/IG and the highest amount of sp3 bonding were obtained at the same substrate temperature.