Nanoparticles as a Metal Source in Plasma Processes

When a metal is added to a layer of diamond-like carbon (DLC), the resulting particle size of the metal within the film usually depends on the metal content. To be more flexible in influencing the size of the particles that result when using a plasma based preparation process two different approaches were tested: on the one hand the combination of a gaseous precursor with magnetron sputtering, where a nanostructured coating is applied on top of the sputter target in advance; on the other hand, the addition of preformed metallic nanoparticles to a liquid. In both cases, the nanoparticles or -structures were prepared by a wet chemical process, whereas the DLC layer was prepared by a plasma process. The produced metal-containing DLC films were characterized regarding their metal content and distribution as well as regarding possible contaminations from the chemical preparation process.