XPS study of hydrogen permeation effect on SiC-C films

70%SiC-C films were deposited with r.f. magnetron sputtering on stainless steel substrates followed by ion beam mixing. These films were permeated by hydrogen gas under the pressure of 3.23 x 10(7) Pa for 3 h at 500 K. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyze the chemical bonding states of C and Si in these 70%SiC-C films before and after hydrogen gas permeation. In addition, chemical states of contaminated oxygen were also checked. The effect of hydrogen permeation on those states in the 70%SiC-C films is discussed in this paper. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.