Effect of electronic stopping on the irradiation-induced changes in hybrid modified silicate thin films
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Ion beam processing of organic/inorganic thin films can provide an alterative means to heat treatment in converting the films to their final desired mechanical properties. In this study, hybrid sol-gel derived thin films based on TEOS (tetraethylorthosilicate Si(OC2H5)4) and MTES (methyltriethoxysilane CH3Si(OC2H5)3) were prepared and deposited on Si substrates by spin coating. After the films were allowed to air dry they were heat treated at 300 C for 10 min. Ion irradiation was carried out at room temperature using 2 MeV Cu2+, 115 keV He+ and 115 keV H+ ions. Ion fluence was varied such that the electronic energy deposited to the film surface region was kept constant for the three different ions. Hardness and H loss in the films were measured after irradiation and were found to depend on the incident ion species. Both hardness and H loss were found to have a linear dependence with ion electronic stopping power. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.