The synthesis of thin amorphous carbon films, consisting of periodically stacked hard (a-C:H) and soft polymer-like carbon (PLC) nanolayers is reported. The a-C:H layers were deposited by sputtering of a graphite target in an Ar-H₂ plasma and the PLC ones by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using CH₄ as main gas precursor in the gas mixture. The film growth mechanism was first studied for the single layer materials grown on silicon and then for one kind of carbon grown on the other, the latter taken as the substrate for the former. The chemical properties of the films were studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR). Angle-resolved XPS was also used for the depth profiling of the films in their early growth stages while Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) was employed for that of the layered structures. The film internal stress was determined from the substrate curvature measurements and the role of the different stress contributors, i.e. interface, bulk and surface, was investigated. The gas barrier properties of the composite films against He were studied and the implications of both the gas permeation and the mechanical properties are discussed for flexible gas barriers.

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