X-Ray Reflectivity of Ultra-Thin Diamond-Like Carbon Films.

摘要

Grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity has been employed to investigate ultra-thin films of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) grown with an S-bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc. The results indicate that x-ray reflectivity can be used as a metrological tool for thickness measurements on films as thin as 0. 5 nm, which is lower than the range required for carbon overcoats for magnetic hard disks and sliders if they are to reach storage densities of 100 Gbits/ in(exp2). The density of the films was derived from the best-fit to simulated reflectivity profiles from models for the structural parameters. In such thin films, the x-rays are reflected mainly at the film substrate interface, rather than the outer surface, so that the film density is derived from analysis of the oscillations of the post-critical angle reflectivity.