New preparation method of diamond like carbon – the layer-by-layer method

Abstract A new method––the layer-by-layer method––is used to prepare diamond like carbon (DLC) films. The layer-by-layer method is a cyclic process for the deposition of DLC by a rf magnetron sputtering using Ar gas and with alternate the atomic hydrogen treatment, which samples are called LL-DLC. A DLC sample without atomic hydrogen treatment and an atomic-hydrogen-treated DLC sample are prepared to compare with LL-DLC. LL-DLC samples are prepared with the substrate temperature from RT to 400 °C. The data of the electrical conductivity including Fermi level E F , optical energy gap E O4 , X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, sp 3 fraction obtained by Raman spectra, infrared absorption coefficient spectra and atomic force microscope are used to characterize these DLC films. These results are also discussed comparing with amorphous carbon nitride a-CN X and the layer-by-layer prepared amorphous carbon nitride LLa-CN X .