DYNAMICS OF GRAPHITE PHOTOABLATION - KINETIC-ENERGY OF THE PRECURSORS TO DIAMOND-LIKE CARBON

The mechanisms for growth of diamond-like carbon by pulsed laser deposition have been investigated. Two distinct but related issues have been addressed: (1) the nature and speed of the particles ejected from graphite by pulsed UV laser irradiation and (2) the extent to which the kinetic energy of the ablated particles determines the character of the resultant films. The results indicate that C3+ and C-3(0) are the predominant ion and neutral particles ejected from graphite by 248 nm laser radiation. These particles are ablated from graphite with mean kinetic energies of 18 and 0.25 eV, respectively. Carbon films were grown in the presence of various collision gases in order to decrease the energy of the ablated particles. Kinetic energy of the particles was found to play a significant role in the generation of diamond-like films.