Growth processes and surface properties of diamondlike carbon films
- Electrical Engineering Department, University of Applied Sciences Deggendorf, Deggendorf 94469 (Germany)
In this study, we compare the deposition processes and surface properties of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films from filtered pulsed cathodic arc discharge (PCAD) and hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films from electron cyclotron resonance (ECR)-plasma source ion implantation. The ion energy distributions (IEDs) of filtered-PCAD at various filter inductances and Ar gas pressures were measured using an ion energy analyzer. The IEDs of the carbon species in the absence of background gas and at low gas pressures are well fitted by shifted Maxwellian distributions. Film hardness and surface properties show a clear dependence on the IEDs. ta-C films with surface roughness at an atomic level and thin (0.3-0.9 nm) graphitelike layers at the film surfaces were deposited at various filter inductances in the highly ionized plasmas with the full width at half maximum ion energy distributions of 9-16 eV. The a-C:H films deposited at higher H/C ratios of reactive gases were covered with hydrogen and sp{sup 3} bonded carbon-enriched layers due to the simultaneous interaction of hydrocarbon species and atomic hydrogen. The effects of deposited species and ion energies on film surface properties were analyzed. Some carbon species have insufficient energies to break the delocalized {pi}(nC) bonds at the graphitelike film surface, and they can govern film formation via surface diffusion and coalescence of nuclei. Dangling bonds created by atomic hydrogen lead to uniform chemisorption of hydrocarbon species from the ECR plasmas. The deposition processes of ta-C and a-C:H films are discussed on the basis of the experimental results.
- OSTI ID:
- 20709677
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 97; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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