Diamondlike carbon deposition on silicon using radio-frequency inductive plasma of Ar and C2H2 gas mixture in plasma immersion ion deposition

Diamondlike carbon (DLC) was deposited on silicon using a plasma immersion ion deposition (PIID) method. Inductive radio-frequency plasma sources were used to generate Ar and C2H2 plasmas at low gas pressures ranging from 0.04 to 0.93 Pa. The film stress and hardness were sharply dependent upon bias voltage at an operating pressure of 0.04 Pa. A maximum hardness of 30 GPa and compressive stress of 9 GPa was observed at a pulsed bias of -150 V bias (carbon energy of 80 eV). The mechanical properties of DLC films are correlated with UV Raman peak positions which infer sp(3)-bonded carbon contents. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)00443-4].