Roughness and deposition mechanism of DLC films prepared by r.f. plasma glow discharge

Abstract

Due to the attractive properties, diamond-like amorphous carbon (DLC) films have been developed as resist material for photo lithography and as hard coatings. For these applications flat surfaces are required. In this work, the surface morphology and the deposition mechanism of DLC films have been investigated. Using parallel plate r.f. plasma glow discharge, methane gas was decomposed for deposition of DLC films on the third electrode located perpendicularly to the two parallel plates. The DLC films were deposited on Si substrates at various distances from the plasma discharge and different bias voltages. IR spectra of the DLC films were taken with an FTIR spectrometer. Determination of the roughness was performed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). An optical emission profile taken between plasma edge and substrate surface was employed to monitor the occurrence of neutral radicals.