Synthesis of Calcium, Sodium and Phosphorus Incorporated Carbon Films using Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation and Deposition (PIII&D)

Summary form only given. Doped with selected impurities has been shown to be an attractive approach to enhance the properties of amorphous carbon or diamond-like carbon (DLC) films for different application. The surface, mechanical, biological and other properties can be selectively enhanced. In this work, we fabricated calcium, sodium, and phosphorus doped carbon films and evaluated their surface properties. The samples were synthesized by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIII&D) using a novel evaporation-based plasma source. The films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our results demonstrate that the evaporation source is a viable means to fabricate DLC films doped with elements that are difficult to introduce by other methods and that doping DLC films with the proper elements can enhance the surface properties of the materials