The hardness and Young’s modulus of amorphous hydrogenated carbon and silicon films measured with an ultralow load indenter

With an ultralow load indenter the hardness H and the Young’s modulus E of amorphous hydrogenated carbon and silicon films, prepared under different conditions, were determined. The values of the hardness of a-C:H, corrected for the elastic recovery, are about 1/3 of the values measured by the Knoop method. The results show that the hardness of a-C:H and a-Si:H are proportional to Young’s modulus [(H/E)C =0.115, (H/E)Si =0.093]. In previous works a proportionality of H and E for metal and metal-metalloid glasses, respectively, already has been found.