Surface morphology and grain analysis of successively industrially grown amorphous hydrogenated carbon films (a-C:H) on silicon

Catena, Alberto; McJunkin, Thomas; Agnello, S.; Gelardi, F. M.; Wehner, Stefan; Fischer, Christian B.

doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.04.113

Cited by 47 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…For PECVD depositions of a‐C:H on several polymer materials, Catena et al observed a thickness‐dependent generation of specifically modified material properties on top, especially caused by the size of the carbon clusters and an increasing content of sp 2 ‐carbon centers . Similar observations were found by some of the authors for these a‐C:H depositions on silicon (100) wafers . On the basis of a considerable number of unsaturated carbon centers resp.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…These azo‐compounds are then used for a photochemical deposition on amorphous hydrogenated layers containing sp 2 ‐carbon centers, as illustrated above. Present a‐C:H layers supported on Si(100) typically contain 30–40% of hydrogen and 30% of sp 3 ‐hybridized CC bindings along with an increasing sp 2 ‐content depending on the thickness, therefore being suitable for the Ru‐complex attachment . The analytical proof for a successful deposition of Ru‐polypyridyl complexes on a‐C:H layers by photochemical immobilization of the included azo group and their stable attachment is demonstrated here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…The coating of silicon wafers (100) with a‐C:H was arranged according to a well‐established procedure via RF‐PECVD . The Si samples with a 500 nm a‐C:H layer were irradiated with UV light without further workup in a 0.0011 mol L −1 solution of 4 or 5 , respectively, for 95 min using a procedure that is closely related to published results (see the Experimental Section) .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Attaching Photochemically Active Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complex Units to Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a‐C:H) Layers

Schink

Catena

Heintz

et al. 2018

Adv Materials Inter

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Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films are applied 500 nm thick on Si(100) via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using ethyne. Present plasma conditions enrich the sp 2 -content especially toward the outermost a-C:H layers, which in turn are used to attach a photoactive Ru-polypyridyl complex to the surface. An azo-bridged dinuclear Ru-polypyridyl complex is optimized in synthesis and the final mononuclear fragment attached on a-C:H photochemically under UV-irradiation with concomitant N 2 release. The Ru-polypyridyl complex is characterized by MS, NMR, IR, UV/vis, fluorescence spectroscopy, and time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Crystallographic data for the intermediate 4-nitro-2-(pyridin-2-yl)pyridine 1-oxide as essential precursor are established. Morphological characteristics of the a-C:H @ Si and final Ru(complex) @ a-C:H @ Si combinations are determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealing individual grain-like structures. The presence of Ru on the a-C:H @ Si surface is initially verified qualitatively by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and by inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SF-MS) after chemical digestion. With laser ablation-ICP-MS mapping, full Ru coverage is proven, also revealing inhomogeneities in terms of "Ru hot spots". The current investigation proves the successful attachment of a Ru-complex on a-C:H and indicates a starting point for the development of further material combinations for feasible sunlight to energy conversions. Surface FunctionalizationThe ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Attaching Photochemically Active Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complex Units to Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a‐C:H) Layers

Schink

Catena

Heintz

et al. 2018

Adv Materials Inter

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“…The coating process is described in detail elsewhere [5,20,21], but here only briefly: Sample holders were placed 275 mm in front of the plasma source. This direct alignment results in so-called r-type diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings [20][21][22][23]. An initial oxygen plasma (10 min, 200 W, 1 Pa, 65 sccm/min) cleaned and activated the PHB surface for further coating.…”

Section: Sample Preparation and Film Depositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Contents of Carbon Hybridizations in Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon Layers (a-C:H) on Sustainable Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) Exhibit a Significant Deterioration in Stability, Depending on Thickness

Schlebrowski

Beucher

Bazzi

et al. 2019

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PHB is a biodegradable polymer based on renewable raw materials that could replace synthetic polymers in many applications. A big advantage is the resulting reduction of the waste problem, as well as the conservation of fossil resources. To arrange it for various applications, the surface is arranged by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with amorphous hydrogenated carbon layers (a-C:H). Here, on a 50 µm thick PHB-foil, a-C:H layers of different thicknesses (0-500 nm) were deposited in 50 nm steps. Surface topography was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), chemical composition by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy and wettability checked by contact angle. In addition, layers were examined by synchrotron supported X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), which revealed thickness dependent changes of the sp 2 /sp 3 ratio. With increasing thickness, even the topography changes show internal, stress-induced phenomena. The results obtained provide a more detailed understanding of the predominantly inorganic a-C:H coatings on (bio)polymers via in situ growth.

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“…Tools like atomic force microscopy (AFM) perform well in terms of axial and lateral resolution, [6]. They have been shown to be excellent tools in laboratory environments for applications such as microbiology and nano-structured materials [7][8][9]. However, AFM measurements over areas larger than the standard (5 x 5 µm) require special installations and measurement times increase significantly, [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Measurement of surface topographies in the nm-range for power chip technologies by a modified low-coherence interferometer

et al. 2016

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This work introduces a modified low-coherence interferometry approach for nanometer surface-prolometry. The key component of the interferometer is an element with known dispersion which defines the measurement range as well as the resolution. This dispersive element delivers a controlled phase variation which can be detected in the spectral domain and used to reconstruct height differences on a sample. In the chosen setup, both axial resolution and measurement range are tunable by the choice of the dispersive element. The basic working principle was demonstrated by a laboratory setup equipped with a supercontinuum light source (Δλ= 400-1700 nm). Initial experiments were carried out to characterize steps of 101 nm on a silicon height standard. The results showed that the system delivers an accuracy of about 11.8 nm. These measurements also served as a calibration for the second set of measurements. The second experiment consisted of the measurement of the bevel of a silicon wafer. The modified low-coherence interferometer could be utilized to reproduce the slope on the edge within the previously estimated accuracy. The main advantage of the proposed measurement approach is the possibility to collect data without the need for mechanically moving parts

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Surface morphology and grain analysis of successively industrially grown amorphous hydrogenated carbon films (a-C:H) on silicon

Cited by 47 publications

References 40 publications

Attaching Photochemically Active Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complex Units to Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a‐C:H) Layers

Attaching Photochemically Active Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complex Units to Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a‐C:H) Layers

Changing Contents of Carbon Hybridizations in Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon Layers (a-C:H) on Sustainable Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) Exhibit a Significant Deterioration in Stability, Depending on Thickness

Measurement of surface topographies in the nm-range for power chip technologies by a modified low-coherence interferometer

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