X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY AND X-RAY-EXCITED AUGER-ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY STUDIES OF THE INITIAL DEPOSITION OF HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS-CARBON

The initial layers and the film-substrate interface of hydrogenated am orphous carbon films obtained by low pressure multipolar methane-plasm a-assisted deposition on crystalline Si have been studied by angle-res olved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray-excited Auger electro n spectroscopy as a function of the ion deposition energy. Nuclear rea ction analysis and elastic recoil detection analysis were also used to complete the analysis. The rate of growth, the H content and the sp3 concentration decrease with increasing energy of ions impinging on the substrate, producing from polymer-like films (less than 400 eV) to '' diamond-like'' films (above 400 eV). The H and sp3 concentrations decr ease also during deposition. The film-substrate interface also varies with the energy of the ions. Either the original native oxide, 10 angs trom thick, is left almost unmodified for polymer-like films or an oxi carbide SiO1.2C0.4 about 50 angstrom thick is formed for ''diamond-lik e'' films.