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13 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials
University of the West of Scotland
The effect of PECVD plasma decomposition on the wettability and dielectric constant changes in silicon modified DLC films for potential MEMS and low stiction applications
This paper demonstrates the suitability of using combined optical probes like Raman spectroscopy, Ellipsometry and Plasma chemistry during deposition to understand and control stiction and nano-tribology in Micro-electromechanical (MEMS) and Nano-devices based on Si-DLC thin films. The traditional method of obtaining tribological information is not easily applicable on the nano-scale where the Van der Waals force dominates surface interactions. This is an extension of previous work, A.A. Ogwu et al, Acta Materialia (2003), Physica B (1999), J.Phys.D (1999).The link between the chemical surface energy probe and optical probes through the Hamaker constant is explored to gauge the stiction process.