Ion-implantation into amorphous hydrogenated carbon films

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon is being investigated as a possible semiconducting material. A required property of a semiconductor is electronic doping, and this may be achieved either by in situ addition of gaseous precursors during deposition or ex situ ion-implantation. This study shows that resulting ion beam damage produced by ion-implantation may be kept to a minimum as long as the ion dose is less than approximately 10(14) cm(-2). Polymer-like carbon films grown using radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition have been implanted with carbon, nitrogen and boron ions, and the electronic and optical properties of the material analysed. An analysis of the electrical and optical data is carried out to distinguish between the physical and chemical changes that occur within the microstructure of the films. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.