Microwave plasma deposition of diamond like carbon coatings

The promising applications of the microwave plasmas have been appearing in the fields of chemical processes and semiconductor manufacturing. Applicati ons include surface deposition of all types including diamond/diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings, etching of semiconductors, promotion of organic reac tions, etching of polymers to improve bonding of the other materials etc. W ith a 2.45 GHz, 700 W, microwave induced plasma chemical vapor deposition ( CVD) system set up in our laboratory we have deposited diamond like carbon coatings. The microwave plasma generation was effected using a wave guide s ingle mode applicator. We have deposited DLC coatings on the substrates lik e stainless steel, Cu-Be, Cu and Si. The deposited coatings have been chara cterized by FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and ellipsometric techniques. The resu lts show that we have achieved depositing similar to 95% sp(3) bonded carbo n in the films. The films are uniform with golden yellow color The films ar e found to be excellent insulators. The ellipsometric measurements of optic al constant on silicon substrates indicate that the films are transparent a bove 900 nm.