Ion beam induced adhesion in Al/diamond bilayer

Abstract

Diamond anvil cells are often used to study phase transitions in materials under high pressure. To probe these transitions, electrodes with low resistance and good adhesion properties are desired. Such electrodes were obtained using ion beam mixing techniques. The diamond anvil was first irradiated with a 100 keV Ar+ beam with an ion dose of 1016 ions/cm 2. Resistance measurements of the irradiated area indicated that ion beam damage induced a low-resistance phase of carbon. A thin Al film (≈ 500 Å) was then deposited on the diamond anvil followed by Ar+ irradiation. The deposition and irradiation processes were repeated, followed by resistance measurements after each irradiation. The measurements indicate the formation of a low resistance layer (R ≈ 10gW). A qualitative test of adhesion was performed by scratching the formed layer with the resistance probes. The resistance of the electrode showed an acceptably small increase as a function of scraping. These results can be understood on the basis of recoil mixing in the Al/diamond system.