The effect of nitrogen incorporation in DLC films deposited by ECR Microwave Plasma CVD

•DLC and DLC:N thin films have been fabricated by the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (ECR- MP CVD) System at room temperature.•DLC:N thin films were obtained by nitrogen doping.•Surface of the films was very smooth.•XPS, RAMAN and FT-IR measurements confirmed...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied surface science 2014-09, Vol.314, p.46-51
Main Authors: Seker, Z., Ozdamar, H., Esen, M., Esen, R., Kavak, H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
61.05.Tv
68.55.J
68.60.Bs
78.55.Qr
81.05.U
Carbon
Chemical vapor deposition
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Deposition
Diamond like carbon
Diamond-like carbon films
DLC
Doping
ECR Microwave Plasma CVD
Exact sciences and technology
FTIR
Physics
Resistivity
Silicon substrates
XPS
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•DLC and DLC:N thin films have been fabricated by the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (ECR- MP CVD) System at room temperature.•DLC:N thin films were obtained by nitrogen doping.•Surface of the films was very smooth.•XPS, RAMAN and FT-IR measurements confirmed the formation of sp2 CN and sp3 CN bonds.•DLC and DLC:N films were found to be very hard.•All the films showed high optical transparency in the IR region. Diamond like carbon (DLC) and nitrogenated diamond like carbon (DLC:N) films have been deposited by electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (ECR-MP CVD) on Si (110), steel and glass substrates, using CH4 and N2 as plasma source. The effect of nitrogen doping on the optical, electrical, structural and mechanical properties of films was investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy results showed that sp2 bonded carbon phases increased while the sp3 bonded carbon phases decreased by nitrogen doping. Microhardness measurements showed a decrease in hardness (from 75 to 69GPa) according to nitrogen incorporation. Average transmittance of all the films was over 90% and band gap energy (Eg) of the films decreased due to increasing nitrogen flow rate. The film morphology was studied using the atomic force microscopy (AFM). Electrical properties were characterized by Hall measurement. Undoped DLC was p-type with a conductivity of 9.81×10−6 (Ωcm)−1. DLC films became n-type by nitrogen doping. The best conductivity value for the nitrogen doped DLC films was found 2.77×10−5 (Ωcm)−1. PL spectra of DLC and DLC:N films showed three peaks at 405nm (3.06eV), 533nm (2.32eV) and 671nm (1.84eV).
ISSN:0169-4332
1873-5584
DOI:10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.06.137