Effects of Fe-embedding on microstructure and electrical properties of diamond like carbon films
Fe-embedding diamond-like carbon(Fe: DLC) films with different Fe content were deposited by using a pulsed laser deposition(PLD) technique.An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) was used to probe the composition of deposited Fe: DLC films.The effects of Fe-embedding on the microstructure and electrical properties of diamond-like carbon films were investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy(TEM),Raman spectroscopy and current-voltage characteristics.The XPS,TEM and Raman spectra analyses indicate that the Fe nano-particles periodically embed in the amorphous carbon matrix and their embedding promote aromatic bond formation,and accordingly,the degree of order of the films increase gradually as the Fe content increase.The current-voltage characteristics show Fe-embedding increases the electrical conductivity of DLC films.