Elucidating the structure of amorphous-carbon films containing carbide and non-carbide-forming metals

Abstract

This work makes a first comparison of the structural features of the amorphous carbon matrix in a-C:Mo and a-C:Au films deposited using the pulsed filter cathodic arc technique. The present study combines synchrotron X-ray absorption (XAS) and emission (XES) in conjunction with transmission electron microscopy observations and selective area diffraction (SADP). While diffraction techniques can be used to indicate the formation of crystalline particles for the metal phase, and transmission electron microscope (TEM) images can be used to indicate the clustering and formation of metallic nanoparticles, the collection of X-ray absorption (XAS) and X-ray emission (XES) spectra is a valuable approach to elucidate the electronic structure of the surrounding amorphous carbon phase and interpret their physical properties.