Study of Chromium-Doped Diamond-Like Carbon by Z-Contrast Imaging and Electron211 Energy Loss Spectroscopy

摘要

Metal-doped diamond-like carbon films were produced for the purpose of an211u001eelectrochemical nano-electrode. In this study we use Z-contrast scanning 211u001etransmission electron microscopy to directly observe metal cluster formation and 211u001edistributions within the chromium-doped carbon films. At low doping 211u001e((approximately)6at%Cr), Cr is uniformly distributed; at high doping 211u001e((approximately)12at%Cr), Cr-rich clusters are formed. Using electron energy loss 211u001espectroscopy, we find that the Cr clusters tend to be metallic-like at low doping 211u001elevels and carbide-like at high doping levels according to the Cr L, white line 211u001eratios. The carbon is more diamond-like at low doping and more graphite/carbide 211u001elike at high doping according to the sp1/sp3 electron percentage measurements.