Modeling of ta-C growth: Influence of the technological parameters

The structure of tetrahedral bonded amorphous carbon (ta-C) is detd. by the energy of the impinging carbon ions, the angle of incidence, the substrate temp. and the deposition rate. Up to now modeling of the ta-C growth was concd. on the energy effects by investigating the early stages of the ion impact and the short-time relaxation in the thermal spike. A new anal. model is presented, which emphasizes the role of long-time diffusion, driven by the stress induced drift towards the surface. In accordance with the exptl. found trends, the model allows the estn. of the sp3 content in dependence on the technol. relevant deposition parameters ion energy, angle, temp., rate and their distributions. This opens the way for the realistic simulation of ta-C growth in industrial coaters.