Processing effects on electrical properties of diamond-like carbon

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films for electronic applications were deposited by a direct ion beam technique. A systematically study was carried out on t he effect of the variation of processing parameters on the electrical prope rties of DLC films. The processing parameters investigated included the sou rce gas mixture compositions of CH4/H-2, CH4/Ar, CH4/H2Ar, CH4/O-2, and CH4 /N-2, the RF discharge power (80 to 250 W), ion deposition energy (200 eV t o 1500 eV), and the substrate material (semiconductor, metals and insulator s). The source gas mixture and ion deposition energy were found to be the m ost critical deposition parameters in determining the film properties. The correlation between the deposition parameters and the electrical properties of the as-deposited DLC films was studied and discussed.