The effects of deposition time on the nanoscale patterns of Ag/DLC nanocomposite synthesized by RF‐PECVD

INTRODUCTION: In this study, a stereometric analysis of the three dimensional (3-D) surfaces of the Ag/DLC nanocomposite synthesized by RF-PECVD was performed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Atomic force microscopy in noncontact mode was used to study surface morphology in correlation with multi-parametric statistical analysis. The associated parameters of segmented motifs in conformity with ISO 25178-2:, 2012 have been extracted using MountainsMap® Premium software. The mathematical algorithm computes detached watersheds of hill or dale motifs and determines the maximum and minimum points of motifs. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The stereometric analyses with MountainsMap® Premium software provided detailed information on the 3-D surface topography of samples. Fractal analyses revealed the fractal nature of the performed samples is in correlation with the deposition time of samples. Detailed information of manufactured Ag/diamond-like carbon (DLC) nanocomposite is given based on the information about the surface structure, properties, and performance characteristics. The performed analysis allows the high-resolution modeling of Ag/DLC nanocomposite surface microtexture with motif analysis (intrinsic characteristics disclosure and characterization of surfaces fractal), in order to be included in computer interactive simulation algorithms. CONCLUSION: It was found the fractal dimension decreases with the increase of the deposition times on samples.