Stress-induced formation of high-density amorphous carbon thin films

Intense argon ion plating and magnetron sputtering were employed in depositing amorphous carbon thin films with high sp3 content. Transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of graphitic regions in the thin films. The difference in the electronic and optical characteristics of the thin films and the films deposited using filtered arc and mass selected ion beam are due to variations in the microstructure of the tetrahedral amorphous carbon films.