B. Kleinsorge et al., Influence of nitrogen and temperature on the deposition of tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon, J APPL PHYS, 88(2), 2000, pp. 1149-1157
The effect of nitrogen addition on the properties of tetrahedral amorphous
carbon (ta-C) has been studied. The ta-C is deposited by a filtered cathodi
c vacuum arc. The effect of introducing nitrogen on its plasma was measured
by a retarding field analyzer and optical emission spectroscopy. The ta-C:
N films were studied as a function of nitrogen content, ion energy, and dep
osition temperature. The incorporation of nitrogen was measured over the ra
nge of 10(-2)-10 at. % by secondary ion mass spectrometry and elastic recoi
l detection analysis. The N content was found to vary slightly sublinearly
with the N-2 partial pressure during deposition. A doping regime was found
for N contents of up to 0.4 at. %, in which the conductivity changes while
the sp(3) content and the optical band gap remain constant. For 0.4%-8% N,
the sp(3) fraction remains above 80% but the optical gap closes due to a cl
ustering of sp(2) sites. Only above about 10% N, the sp(3) fraction falls.
The influence of nitrogen on the a-C was found to be independent of ion ene
rgies between 20 and 220 eV. Deposition above 200 degrees C causes a sudden
loss of sp(3) bonding. Raman and optical gap data show however that existi
ng sp(2) sites begin to cluster below this temperature. (C) 2000 American I
nstitute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)00614-9].