Plasma deposition of amorphous carbon films from CH4 atmospheres highly diluted in Ar

• Autor(a) principal: Jacobsohn, L. G.
• Data de Publicação: 2002
• Outros Autores: Capote, G., Cruz, N. C., Zanatta, A. R., Freire, Jr.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6090(02)00756-3; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/230926
• topic: Amorphous hydrogenated carbon; Methane; Noble gases; Plasma enhanced CVD

The deposition, structure and mechanical properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films grown in highly Ar-diluted CH4 atmospheres were investigated for a total pressure of 13 Pa. Films were investigated as a function of the self-bias voltage between -50 and -500 V for two extreme CH4 partial pressures, 2 and 100%. For the self-bias voltage that optimizes the diamond-like properties of the films, -350 V, we carried out an investigation as a function of the Ar partial pressure, which ranged from 0 to 99%. The deposition rate and the hydrogen content decreased with progressive Ar dilution. The density and the compressive internal stress are nearly constant. The hardness decreased for Ar-rich precursor atmospheres. The surface roughness was independent of the CH4 partial pressure. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.