Influence of annealing process on surface micromorphology of carbon–nickel composite thin films

In this research, we investigated carbon–nickel composite films prepared by RF-magnetron co-sputtering on quartz substrates using a multi-component target (10 cm in diameter) consisting of pure graphite (99.99%) and strips of pure nickel (approx. 2 cm2 in size) attached to the graphite race track, that corresponds to around 2.5% in area. The substrates were ultrasonically cleaned in acetone bath for 20 min and dried in hot air flow prior to deposition process. The films were grown at room temperature in a deposition chamber evacuated to a base pressure 1 × 10−3 N/m2 and then the constant Argon working pressure of 4 N/m2 was settled and maintained by throttle valve. Deposition was done in constant RF power regime 400 W. The films were deposited for 600 s and then annealed for 2 h in a furnace at the temperature: 300, 500, 800 and 1000 °C under ambient atmospheric pressure.