Characterisation of thermally annealed diamond like carbon (DLC) and silicon modified DLC films by Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy has been used to investigate the structural changes in t hermally annealed diamond like carbon (a-C:H) and silicon modified diamond like carbon (a-C:H:Si) films prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapour de position (PECVD) using a 514.53 nm argon ion laser excitation. The changes in the Raman spectra of the films has been used to monitor structural modif ications with increasing annealing temperature. The present investigation i ndicates that the rate of these structural modifications is dependent on bo th the annealing temperature and the negative self-bias voltage applied dur ing the film deposition process for a fixed annealing time. (C) 1999 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.