Microstructure and optical properties of cobalt–carbon nanocomposites prepared by RF-sputtering

Abstract

Cobalt/carbon nanocomposite coating (Co NPs @ a-C: H), which consist of cobalt nanoparticles buried in hydrogenated amorphous carbon are prepared by RFsputtering and RF-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on silicon substrates. In these processes, the coatings are produced from a cobalt sputtered target and acetylene reactant gas. The crystalline structure and surface topography of the deposited films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The AFM shows that the average size distribution depends on the deposition conditions and RMS varies from 3.5 up to 6 nm. The XRD analyses indicate the presence of cobalt nanostructure as centered face cubic phase and its oxide, but with no evidence of carbide structure. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis was used to identify the elements composition in the films and the ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry is used to study surface plasmon resonance bands of Co nanoparticles.

Preparation and magnetoresistance behavior of nickel nanoparticles embedded in hydrogenated carbon film

“…Arrays of nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs) on carbon substrates with different Ni NPs concentrations were grown using simultaneously RF-sputtering with a Ni target and RF-PECVD following a procedure similar to that described elsewhere [15][16][17][18][19][20]. The used experimental arrangement consisted of a steel sample chamber connected to two rotary and diffusion pumps, and two electrodes of different area size; the smallest electrode was a nickel target electrode with a diameter of 7.5 cm and powered by a RF power supply.…”

“…In this matter, the sputtering [12,13] and the chemical vapor deposition techniques [14] have been especially relevant, and their versatility have recently combined to prepare nanocomposite films [15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

Quantitative Investigations about the Surface Texture Characteristics of the Nickel-Carbon Composite Thin Films using Stereometric Analysis

“…Due to a layer of its oxide acting as a protection, it is corrosion-resistant, so its thin layers are used to cover other metals to prevent corrosion, which has many uses for the production of industrial tools [1][2][3].…”

Micromorphology and fractal analysis of nickel–carbon composite thin films

“…In this regards, in modern manufacturing processes, two approaches are mainly used for the analysis of 3-D surface topography: statistical and fractal methods [1,5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Given the complex surface topography of nano-and microstructures, it cannot be completely characterized only by using the traditional Euclidean geometry; therefore, the use of fractal geometry is more convenient for surface roughness analyses of such systems [1,5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”