Development of DLC film technology for electronic application

The issues related to the development of a carbon film technology for microelectronic applications are considered in this paper. To this end, carbon films deposited by plasma assisted chemical vapour deposition (PACVD) and by magnetron sputtering of a graphite target are analysed comparatively. A great deal of information about them is shown to be gained by combining two analytical methods. On the one hand, in situ X-ray reflectivity (XRR) allows us to monitor, in real time: parameters such as thickness, density and surface roughness of the growing film. On the other hand, ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provides knowledge about the chemical composition and the electronic structure of the film surface region. Combination of such complementary analytical techniques results in a powerful tool for the development of the required technology to enable the use of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films in microelectronics devices. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.