DLC FILMS BY PLASMA-ASSISTED CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION NEAR ROOM-TEMPERATURE

This work concentrates on the preparation of diamond-like amorphous carbon films using a d.c. glow discharge with and without coupling to a microwave source. Films were deposited on single crystal silicon, glass and several plastics at temperatures between room temperature and 150-degrees-C. A variety of carbon containing feed gases have been used at pressures ranging from few milliTorrs to 1 Torr with an applied electric field up to 3300 V in-1. The films obtained range from transparent to semi-transparent and can be very hard as observed by an ASTM scratch tester. The visible, IR and Raman spectra of the films have been obtained, and these are related to their structure and hardness. The DLC films grown on plastics were found to suffer from deformations due to the flexibility of the underlying material, and hence their performance was judged to be less than ideal despite the hardness of the overlying material. The results are discussed in terms of chemical composition and growth kinetics of the films.