Molybdenum-containing carbon films deposited using the screen grid technique in an electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition system

Abstract

Abstract A novel technique involving the incorporation of two molybdenum (Mo) screen grids embedded in an electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR–CVD) system is presented in this paper. A comprehensive set of film deposition experiments based on this screen grid sputtering technique has been carried out. The Mo-containing carbon films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The film resistivity, optical bandgap and hardness were evaluated as a function of the gas flow ratio (CH4/Ar). XPS analysis showed that the fraction of Mo incorporated in the carbon film decreased drastically from 15.11 to 0.32% following an increase in the CH4/Ar flow ratio. The optical absorption also decreases strongly and the film with the lowest Mo fraction has a bandgap of 2.0 eV. The film resistivity was found to increase by 11 orders of magnitude following the decrease in the metal fraction. It is found that Mo can exist in the forms of MoC, Mo2C, Mo, and even MoO3 in the films, the last being mainly due to air exposure. The results showed that our ECR-based screen grid technique for Me-C:H deposition is highly effective and flexible with good control over the amount of metal incorporated.