Electron and ion radiation damage of a-C:H films detected by energy loss spectroscopy of reflected and transmitted electrons

Abstract Reflection electron energy loss and transmission electron energy loss spectra were recorded to investigate the electron- and ion-beam damage in amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films. The irradiation energy was chosen to be 3 keV for argon ions and 1 keV for electron bombardment, which are typical energies used in surface analysis. Changes in density and bonding of a-C:H films were observed for doses up to 6 × 10 18 cm −2 for electrons and up to 2 × 10 17 cm −2 for ions. In this work, the two types of electron energy loss spectroscopy were compared to identify surface and bulk effects due to irradiation.