DIRECT ION BEAM DEPOSITION of DIAMOND-LIKE FILMS FROM RF INDUCTIVELY COUPLED (IC) PLASMA SOURCE: MECIHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES B. DRUZ*, I. ZARITSKIY*, K. WILLIAMS*. A. HAYES*, V.I. POLYAKOV**, A.V. KCHOMICH**, XIODUNG LI***, BHARAT BHUSHAN*** * - Veeco Instruments, Inc., Plainview, NY 11803 ** - Institute of Radio Eng. & Electronics, 11 Mohovaya str,103907 Moscow, Russia ***- The Ohio State University, 206 W 18 Av. Ohio 43210-1107 ABSTRACT Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited on various substrates using direct ion beam deposition from an RF IC hydrocarbon plasma source. Combinations of gases such as CH 4 . CH 4 -N 2 were used to form plasma. The mechanical, electrical and optical properties of the films were examined as a function of deposition conditions and N 2 content in gas mixture. A small amount of N 2 (<8 sccm) did not markedly change hardness and stress, while electrical conductivity was significantly increased. In addition, a small amount of N 2 improved wear performance of the films reducing amount of debris and wear track size. Introduction of high N 2 flow into the system significantly deteriorates value of these parameters. It was found that N 2 essentially increases absorption coefficient, and reduces optical band gap. Analysis of the experimental results shows that observed effects can be explained by incorporation of N 2 into carbon-strained network that induces structural changes and. in turn, leads to an increase of sp2 fraction in the DLC films. INTRODUCTION Direct ion beam deposition of DLC films allows excellent and independent control of the energy and current density of the impinging ions, as well as deposition rates while producing hard. inert and highly adherent coatings. In addition, this process allows for step coverage improvement, and maintains isolation of substrates to be coated from the ion generation area resulting in low substrate temperature during the deposition run. Recently, the use of an RF ICP large area ion source for direct ion beam deposition of DLC films has been reported [1,2,3]. In this work recent results on the deposition of a-C:H:N films are reviewed. The stream of this research effort has been the study of nitrogen incorporation into RF IC plasma deposited a-C:H films. Results on the study of mechanical, optical, and electrical properties will be presented. Special emphasis is dedicated to the system capability to deposit DLC films with improved wear, controllable electrical resistivity while changes in hardness remain minor. EXPERIMENT The vacuum chamber used for deposition of the DLC films is equipped with a Veeco RIM-350 RF ICP ion source [1]. The fixture rotation speed is - 15 RPM. Tilt angle of the 273 Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 593 © 2000 Materials Research Society