Modulation of residual stress in diamond like carbon films with incorporation of nanocrystalline gold

Abstract Residual stress modulation in the diamond-like carbon coatings with incorporation of gold nanoparticles was studied critically. The films were deposited on glass and Si (1 0 0) substrates by using capacitatively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition. Stresses in the films were determined from the broadening of the optical absorption tail and were found to decrease from 2.3 GPa to 0.48 GPa with increasing gold content (2–7 at.% Au) in the DLC matrix. Gold incorporation also made the films harder than the corresponding DLC coatings. Modulation of stress with nanocrystalline gold content in the DLC matrix was related to the relative amount of sp2/sp3 content in the DLC films.