Fabrication of Delamination Free, Low Stress Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) Films Using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)

Abstract

Poor adhesion and delamination of diamond-like carbon(DLC) films due to high residual stresses has been a long standing challenge for thick (>1 μm) DLC films. In this study, delamination-free and low stress DLC films were deposited using multi-cycle pulsed laser deposition (MCPLD) from a graphite target. Residual stress values of a micron thick film prepared by MCPLD was 2 GPa, as compared to 9 GPa in films deposited by conventional or single cycle pulsed laser deposition (SCPLD). Adhesion failure was completely absent in the DLC films prepared by the MCPLD process owing to such low residual stress.