U.S.-France Cooperative Research: Preparation and Characterization of Thin Films on Substrates

这个为期两年的奖项支持美国和法国在电子材料方面的合作研究。该项目涉及斯坦福大学的罗伯特·辛克莱和大卫·史蒂文森，以及普瓦捷大学的米歇尔·贾恩、让·格里赫等人。研究人员提出制备金刚石碳和类金刚石碳薄膜和磁性层，并对其力学性能和微观结构进行表征。利用普瓦捷研究小组开发的专门离子束沉积技术，他们将制造一种新型的碳膜。耐磨性和摩擦测试将在普瓦捷进行，薄膜的硬度将由斯坦福大学的专用压痕机确定。材料的表征将由斯坦福大学的高分辨率电子显微镜进行，并辅以奥赛大学的电子能量损失光谱和同步加速器x射线研究。研究表明，由金刚石和石墨混合晶体结构组成的硬碳薄膜作为涂层，可以改善摩擦和磨损。然而，涂层在基底上的粘附性仍然是材料研究人员面临的一个问题。此次合作的最终目标是开发具有良好摩擦学和粘附性能的新型耐磨薄膜。这些新材料对于磁层和磁盘存储器的应用非常重要，并可能导致计算机和信息技术的改进。

This two-year award supports U.S.-France Cooperative research in electronic materials. The project involves Robert Sinclair and David Stevenson of Stanford University and Michel Jaouen, Jean Grilhe and others at the University of Poitiers. The investigators propose to prepare diamond carbon and diamond-like carbon films and magnetic layers and then characterize their mechanical properties and microstructure. Using specialized ion- beam deposition techniques developed by the Poitiers research group, they will make a new type of carbon film. Testing of wear resistance and friction will be handled at Poitiers, and the hardness of the films will be determined by a special indentation machine at Stanford. Characterization of the materials will be carried out by high-resolution electron microscopy at Stanford and complemented by electron energy loss spectroscopy and synchrotron x-ray studies at Orsay. It has been shown that hard carbon films, composed of a mixed diamond and graphite crystal structure, used as coatings, could improve friction and wear. However, adhesion of the coatings on substrates remains a problem for materials researchers. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to develop new, wear resistant films with good tribological and adhesion properties. These new materials are important for magnetic layers and disk memory applications and could lead to improved computer and information technologies.