Chemical bonding states of TiC films before and after hydrogen ion irradiation

Abstract

TiC films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering followed by Ar⁺ ion bombardment were irradiated with a hydrogen ion beam. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used for characterization of the chemical bonding states of C and Ti elements of the TiC films before and after hydrogen ion irradiation, in order to understand the effect of hydrogen ion irradiation on the films and to study the mechanism of hydrogen resistance of TiC films. Conclusions can be drawn that ion bombardment at moderate energy can cause preferential physical sputtering of carbon atoms from the surface of low atomic number (Z) material. This means that ion beam bombardment leads to the formation of a non-stoichiometric composition of TiC on the surface. TiC films prepared by ion beam mixing have the more excellent characteristic of hydrogen resistance. One important cause, in addition to TiC itself, is that there are many vacant sites in TiC created by ion beam mixing. These defects can easily trap hydrogen and effectively enhance the effect of hydrogen resistance.

Keywords

TiC films / XPS / chemical bonding

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