Toshiaki Yasui, Hidekazu Kodera, Izumi Oya, Hirokazu Tahara, Takao Yoshikawa
Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 38(7A) 4200-4205, 1999
An electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma source with permanent magnets was investigated for plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of amorphous carbon. By using a mixture of CH4, O2 and H2 gases, this plasma source was used to successfully deposit amorphous carbon at a low pressure (2.7 Pa) and a low substrate temperature (500-600°C). At a 7.7 vol% CH4 concentration and 0.6 vol% O2 concentration, microcrystalline amorphous carbon with crystallites about 0.6 µm in diameter was deposited. Raman spectroscopic analysis showed that this deposit was diamond-like carbon. On increasing the O2 concentration slightly, the size of the deposit decreased. On the other hand, a slight decrease of O2 concentration changed the deposit to graphitic carbon. These deposition characteristics were explained by plasma diagnoses using optical emission spectroscopy and actinometry.