Preparation Of Silicon-doped DLC On Hard Disk And Plasma Diagnosis

A novel hybrid technique for Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) film deposition has been developed, which combines the electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma discharge and magnetron sputtering. It is a new deposition technology for a range of semiconductor and compounds films. And it seems as one of the best methods to deposit Diamond-like carbon (DLC) with unique properties.In this paper, the principle and specialty of Plasma Enhanced Sputtering Deposition are introduced. It is also introduced of the Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films. The paper describes the theory and characters of Langmuir probe diagnosis, and it shows that optimal flux is CH4=40sccm, Ar=10sccm. Meanwhile, the properties and characters of Si-DLC films are observed by Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, XPS, AFM and other methods.Common method for Si-DLC film deposition is Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) using tetramethylsilane as a silicon precursor. It is suggested that, for such a PECVD process, the increased hydrogen content in the doped films lead to the weakening of the mechanical and chemical stability properties. The newly developed technique indicates that the percent of sp3 increases and the hardness increases from 14.7Gpa to 17.0Gpa by increasing of sputtering bias. Particularly, The higher G band position in the Raman spectrum and the lower background slope indicate the lower hydrogen content and lower internal stress in the Si-DLC film. Rms of the film decreases from 0.16nm to 0.12nm and minimum coefficient of friction is 0.1. The mechanical and chemical stability properties of the films are improved.