Mechanical properties of amorphous hydrogenated carbon films fabricated on polyethylene terephthalate foils by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films have been deposited on polyethylene terephthalate by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition. The influence of deposition parameters such as gas pressure, bias voltage, and nitrogen incorporation on the mechanical properties of the a-C:H films are investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that the ratio of sp3 to sp2 is 0.24 indicating that the film is mainly composed of graphitelike carbon. Nanoindentation tests disclose enhanced surface hardness of ∼6GPa. The friction coefficient of the film deposited at higher gas pressure, for instance, 2.0Pa, is lower than that of the film deposited at a lower pressure such as 0.5Pa. The films deposited using a low bias voltage tend to fail easily in the friction tests and nitrogen incorporation into the a-C:H films decreases the friction coefficient. Mechanical folding tests show that deformation failure is worse on a thinner a-C:H film.