Electrical, Optical, and Mechanical Properties of Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon Obtained under Various Deposition Conditions

Activation energy of dc conductivity, refractive index, and microhardness of amorphous hydrogenated carbon films a-C:H have been studied. The films are produced from a methane-argon mixture under various deposition conditions on quartz and silicon substrates: E/p = 40-180 V/mPa (E is the electric-field strength in the space between the electrodes, and p is the gas mixture pressure in the chamber) and substrate temperature T-s = 50-300 degrees C. In these deposition conditions, diamond-like, polymer-like, and graphite-like a-C:H films can be obtained with widely varying activation energy of conductivity, microhardness, and refractive index.