E. Riedo(1), J. Chevrier(1), F. Comin(1), M.Sancrotti(2).(1)European Syncchrotron Radiation Facility, F. 38043 Grenoble, France (2) Laboratorio Nazionale TASC-INFM, Padriciano 99, I34012 Trieste, Italy

Pulzed Laser Deposition of hydrogen free diamond like carbon films is attracting a growing interest due to the properties of these films: good adherence on various substrates, high hardness, low friction coefficient and chemical inert behavior. These properties strongly depend on the binding structure present in the films which in tirn is related to the deposition parameters. This work deals with the study of amorphous Carbon and Carbon Nitride (CN) thin films deposited onto Silicon substrates using the pulse laser deposition method. A Q-switched Nd-YAG laser (1064 nm or 532 nm, 10 ns) was used as light source. We investigated the structural properties of these films by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. The surface morphologies of the films were studied with an atomic force microscopy. Surface morphologies appeared to be correlated to the binding structure of the films. The surface roughness and the structural properties of the films were studied as a function of different substrate temperatures (from 25 to 600º C) and using laser power densities in the range of 10⁸- 10¹¹ W/cm². The influence of bombarding ions on the growing films was also investigated.