Complete characterization by Raman spectroscopy of the structural properties of thin hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films exposed to rapid thermal annealing

Journal Article · Sun Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4896838· OSTI ID:22305701

Rose, Franck; Wang, Na; Smith, Robert; Xiao, Qi-Fan; Dai, Qing; Marchon, Bruno ^[1]; Inaba, Hiroshi; Matsumura, Toru; Saito, Yoko; Matsumoto, Hiroyuki ^[2]; Mangolini, Filippo ^[3]; Carpick, Robert W. ^[4]

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1. HGST, A Western Digital Company, San Jose Research Center, 3403, Yerba Buena Rd, San Jose, California 95135 (United States)
2. HGST, A Western Digital Company, Japan Research Laboratory, 2880 Kozu, Odawara, Kanagawa 256-8510 (Japan)
3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 (United States)
4. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6315 (United States)

We have demonstrated that multi-wavelength Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopies are sufficient to completely characterize the structural properties of ultra-thin hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC:H) films subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA, 1 s up to 659 °C) and to resolve the structural differences between films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, facing target sputtering and filtered cathodic vacuum arc with minute variations in values of mass density, hydrogen content, and sp³ fraction. In order to distinguish unequivocally between films prepared with different density, thickness, and RTA treatment, a new method for analysis of Raman spectra was invented. This newly developed analysis method consisted of plotting the position of the Raman G band of carbon versus its full width at half maximum. Moreover, we studied the passivation of non-radiative recombination centers during RTA by performing measurements of the increase in photoluminescence in conjunction with the analysis of DLC:H networks simulated by molecular dynamics. The results show that dangling bond passivation is primarily a consequence of thermally-induced sp² clustering rather than hydrogen diffusion in the film.

• OSTI ID: 22305701
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANNEALING
CARBON
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DIFFUSION
FILMS
FILTERS
HYDROGENATION
MASS
MOLECULAR DYNAMICS METHOD
PASSIVATION
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PLASMA
RAMAN SPECTRA
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
RECOMBINATION
SIMULATION
SPUTTERING
THICKNESS
WAVELENGTHS