Nano-structural Modification of Amorphous Carbon Thin Films by Low-energy Electron Beam Irradiation

A new approach using a low-energy electron beam radiation system was investigated to synthesize carbon hybrid structures in amorphous carbon thin films. Two types of amorphous carbon films, which were 15at% iron containing film and with column/inter-column structures, were deposited onto Si substrates by a sputtering technique and subsequently exposed to an electron shower of which the energy and dose rate were much smaller compared to an intense electron beam used in a transmission electron microscopy. As a result of the low-energy and low-dose electron irradiation process, graphitic structures formed in amorphous matrix at a relatively low temperature up to 450 K. Hybrid carbon thin films containing onion-like structures in an amorphous carbon matrix were synthesized by dynamic structural modification of iron containing amorphous carbon thin films. It was found that the graphitization progressed more in the electron irradiation than in annealing at 773 K, and it was attributed to thermal and catalytic effects which are strongly related to grain growth of metal clusters. On the other hand, a reversal of TEM image contrast was observed in a-C films with column/inter-column structures. It is presumed that preferable graphitization occurred in the inter-column regions induced by electron irradiation.