The preparation, characterization and tribological properties of TA-C : H deposited using an electron cyclotron wave resonance plasma beam source

A compact electron cyclotron wave resonance (ECWR) source has been develope d for the high rate deposition of hydrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C:H). The ECWR provides growth rates of up to 900 Angstrom/min over a 4 " diameter acid an independent control of the deposition rate and ion ene rgy. The ta-C:H was deposited using acetylene as the source gas and was cha racterized in terms of its sp(3) content, mass density, intrinsic stress, h ydrogen content, C-H bonding, Raman spectra, optical gap, surface roughness and friction coefficient. The results obtained indicated that the;film pro perties were maximized at an ion energy of approximately 167 eV, correspond ing to an energy per daughter carbon ion of 76 eV. The relationship between the incident ion energy and film densification was also explained in terms of the subsurface implantation of carbon ions into the growing film.