The electrical properties of diamond-like carbon film/D263 glass composite for the substrate of micro-strip gas chamber

Abstract Micro-Strip Gas Chamber (MSGC) used as a position sensitive gas detector has perfect performances in the detection of X-ray, α particles, β particles, γ-ray and other nuclear irradiations. However, it encounters a severe problem, that is, positive charge accumulation which can be avoided by reducing the surface resistivity of insulating substrate. So, diamond-like carbon (DLC) film is deposited on D263 glass to modify its electrical properties as substrate for MSGC. DLC film has optical smoothness and strong adhesive force on D263 glass, which helps fabricate microelectrodes on it. Raman spectroscopy demonstrates that DLC film is of sp3 and sp2 bonds corresponding to the occupied bonding (σ) states and the empty antibonding (σ*) states, and therefore it is a type of electronically conducting material. I–V plots indicate that three samples enjoy very steady resistivities between 109 Ω cm and 1012 Ω cm, especially the DLC film under high electrical field over 104 V cm−1, which meet the optimum requirements of MSGC. DLC film/D263 glass composite substrate is essential for MSGC to avoid charge-up.