COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE OPTICAL AND STRUCTURAL-PROPERTIES OF A-C-H FILMS DEPOSITED BY CONVENTIONAL DIODE AND MICROWAVE ECR ASSISTED RF PLASMA METHODS

We have compared the influence of the hydrogen bonding configuration a nd content on the optoelectronic properties and structure of two serie s of diamond-like hydrogenated amorphous carbon films (a-C:H) deposite d under different plasma conditions, respectively, by conventional dio de and microwave electron cyclotron resonance (MWECR) assisted radio f requency (rf) plasma decomposition of pure methane. A combination of i nfra-red (IR) and optical absorption measurements have been performed on the samples in their as-deposited state and after successive isochr onal annealing up to 650 degrees C. These measurements are correlated with thermal disorption mass spectroscopy experiments (TDMS) (up to 90 0 degrees C), The results as a whale indicate that the MWECR assisted rf plasma films are more dense than those deposited by conventional rf plasma, and that they exhibit different behaviour upon annealing (up to 900 degrees C). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.