Raman light scattering in hydrogenated metal-carbon composite films

We have used Raman scattering, elemental analysis, and structural analysis to study the effect of the concentration of incorporated metals (Cu, Ni) on the ratio of sp²/sp³ carbon bonds in composite hydrogen-containing films a-C:H/Cu and a-C:H/Ni, formed by combining plasma-enhanced vapor phase deposition of carbon and sputtering of the metal, using a mixture of argon and methane or acetylene gases. We have shown that formation of a nanosized structure of metallic crystallites (2–5 nm) in the composite films leads to a significant increase in the fraction of disordered sp³-bonded carbon clusters and a decrease in the linear dimensions of the graphite-like carbon clusters. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 73, No. 3, pp. 344–348, May–June, 2006.