Influence of DC Biasing on the Formation of Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon Films Using a Plasma-Based Ion Implantation Technique

Abstract

Carbon films were synthesized on a Si wafer by pulse biasing and DC biasing in a plasma-based ion implantation system using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma source with a mirror field, and the influence of DC biasing with additional pulse biasing on the properties of carbon films was investigated. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films with a low friction coefficient could be formed by the application of both a pulse bias and a DC bias. The tribological property was considerably improved by increasing the DC bias voltage up to -200 V for DLC formation, which shows the low friction coefficient under a high load conducted during the friction test. The improvement of the tribological property was attributed to the increase in the thickness of the mixed layer formed at the interface between the DLC film and the Si substrate upon DC biasing without the transition of structure from that of DLC to one similar to glassy carbon.