Processing effects on electrical properties of diamond-like carbon

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films for electronic applications were deposited by a direct ion beam technique. A systematically study was carried out on the effect of the variation of processing parameters on the electrical properties of DLC films. The processing parameters investigated included the source gas mixture compositions of CH4/H-2, CH4/Ar, CH4/H2Ar, CH4/O-2, and CH4/N-2, the RF discharge power (80 to 250 W), ion deposition energy (200 eV to 1500 eV), and the substrate material (semiconductor, metals and insulators). The source gas mixture and ion deposition energy were found to be the most critical deposition parameters in determining the film properties. The correlation between the deposition parameters and the electrical properties of the as-deposited DLC films was studied and discussed.