Electrically conductive diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited by supermagnetron plasma chemical vapor deposition. The deposition was made on Si and glass wafers using mixed isobutane (i-C4H10) and N2 gases. The physical properties of deposited film were measured and analyzed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements revealed that the absorption due to N–H, C–N, and C≡N bonds increased with increases in N2 gas concentration. The increase in electrical conductivity could be attributed to C–N and C≡N bond creation in the DLC films. The lowest resistivity, 0.17 Ω cm, was achieved at an N2 concentration of 70%, gas pressure of 50 mTorr, lower electrode temperature of 160 °C, and rf powers of 1 kW/1 kW. The lowest resistivity film was 1750 kg/mm2 hard, harder than glass (1340 kg/mm2). Raman spectroscopy measurements revealed two peak D and G bands, and the D band was more intense than the G band. The optical band gap decreased with increases in the N2 concentration. Hall measurements showed that the carrier was n type and both carrier density and Hall mobility increased with rf powers.
Amorphous diamondlike carbon films have been investigated by means of spectroscopic ellipsometery (SE). The films were measured by a null ellipsometer in the 230–750 nm range and the measured spectra were analyzed using an empirical dielectric function suitable for amorphous materials. The fitting of SE data with empirical dielectric function shows that the measured spectra can be well explained using the empirical dielectric function. The optical constants calculated from the fitting of SE data were used to calculate the optical reflectance spectra of these films. It was found that the calculated reflectance spectra coincide with the measured spectra suggesting that the optical properties obtained from the fitting of SE data are accurate.
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