Investigation of atomic structures of diamond-like amorphous carbon by electron energy loss spectroscopy

Research into amorphous carbon films has been developed to such an extent that the film property can be fine tuned to mimic that of the crystalline counterparts, be it diamond, graphite, or even fullerene-like. This flexibility makes such films ideal for a wide range of applications from anti-abrasive window coating to lubricating layers on the surface of magnetic hard-disk. Not only are their mechanical properties interesting, electrically the diamond-like amorphous carbon films are also easier to dope than crystalline diamond, making them potentially a better alternative to amorphous silicon for photovoltaic devices. We will show that electron energy loss spectroscopy, in particular the carbon 1s core absorption spectroscopy, has been instrumental in revealing the nature of the bonding between carbon atoms. Such information allows microstructure models to be developed for proper understanding of the observed properties and providing scientific basis for future improvement.