TABLE OF CONTENTS Thin films of diamond are useful for making novel electronic devices. In the 1960s, this kind of film was first deposited by decomposition of CH 4 in a CVD system. In the 1970s, several methods were considered for the deposition of diamond thin films, including plasma CVD, ion-beam deposition, and sputter deposition. In the CVD process, thin films of diamond were prepared at substrate temperatures of 800 to 1000 C. Ion-beam deposition and sputter deposition are attractive processes because it is possible to prepare thin films at room temperature due to their energetic adatoms.
Aisenberg and Chabot first tried to deposit thin films of diamond at room temperature by deposition of energetic carbon ions using ion-beam deposition. The carbon ions were accelerated at 40 eV by a biased field.[268] The resultant films were transparent with high electrical resistivity. Since their physical properties resemble diamond, these films were called diamond-like carbon (DLC) films. They may be composed of amorphous carbon with small diamond crystallites dispersed in the amorphous carbon network.
Sputter deposition of diamond films was first tried by Wasa and Hayakawa using rf-diode sputtering. They sputtered diamond powder in Ar and produced a transparent DLC film on a glass substrate at room temperature.[269] The film showed poor adherence to the substrate due to its hardness, as shown in Fig. 5.137.
In the 1980s, detailed studies were done on the sputter deposition of DLC films. Weissmantel, et al., deposited DLC films...
