Structural properties of carbon films fabricated by ion-assisted pulsed-plasma deposition

Carbon films fabricated by pulsed-plasma ion-assisted sputtering of graphite in argon and nitrogen atmosphere are studied using Raman spectroscopy, electron diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that nitrogen is efficiently incorporated in the material structure, which leads to formation of oriented graphite nanoclusters the amount of which increases with an increase in the assistance energy.