NANOMETER INDENTATION MEASUREMENTS ON METAL-CONTAINING AMORPHOUS HYDROGENATED CARBON-FILMS (ME-C-H)

In order to determine hardnesses and Young's moduli of thin films down to 1 μm thickness, nanometer indentation measurements were performed using an apparatus developed at the Philips Research Laboratories. An evaluation method described by Doerner and Nix was applied using a geometric correction to account for the non-ideal indenter tip geometry. In a preliminary study, the influence of the substrate material on the measured values was investigated for sputtered tungsten films. For MeC:H films the influences of the kind of incorporated metal, of the hydrocarbon gases used in the process, and of the deposition conditions are described. Results from hardness measurements on MeC:H films are compared to results from abrasive wear tests on the films. © 1990.