Nitrogen-doped plasma-enhanced CVD amorphous carbon: processes and properties

In this work we discuss thin film amorphous carbon which is deposited in a dual frequency plasma enhanced CVD system with a nitrogen-containing ambient. Unlike most carbon films deposited using PECVD, the films in this study were deposited on the grounded electrode and therefore subject to little energetic bombardment during growth. Methane was used as the carbon-containing precursor. We illustrate some potential applications for this type of film and discuss the effect of various process parameters on resulting film properties, such as optical constants, stoichiometry, and chemical bonding and structure.