Plasma Diagnosis for Microwave ECR Plasma Enhanced Sputtering Deposition of DLC Films

Abstract

Application of the Langmuir probe in plasma circumstance for deposition of diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films usually faces the problem of rapid failure of the probe due to surface insulative coating. In this paper, we circumvent the problem by using the floating harmonic probe technique. In the real circumstance of DLC film deposition, the floating harmonic probe worked reliably over 3 hours, correctly indicating the ion density and electron temperature. The technique was practically used to measure the ion density and electron temperature in DLC film deposition processes using the microwave ECR plasma enhanced sputtering. Combined with the Raman spectroscopic characterization of the films, the conditions for deposition of DLC films were investigated.