Abstract
Grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity has been employed to investigate ultra-thin films of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) grown with an S-bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc. The results indicate that x-ray reflectivity can be used as a metrological tool for thickness measurements on films as thin as 0.5 nm, which is lower than the range required for carbon overcoats for magnetic hard disks and sliders if they are to reach storage densities of 100 Gbits/in2. The density of the films was derived from the best-fit to simulated reflectivity profiles from models for the structural parameters. In such thin films, the x-rays are reflected mainly at the film substrate interface, rather than the outer surface, so that the film density is derived from analysisof the oscillations of the post-critical angle reflectivity.
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Tanner, B.K., LiBassi, A., Ferrari, A.C. et al. X-Ray Reflectivity of Ultra-Thin Diamond-Like Carbon Films. MRS Online Proceedings Library 675, 1141 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-675-W11.4.1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-675-W11.4.1