Deposition of a-C:H films with an ECWR-reactor at 27 MHz: plasma diagnostics and film properties

For the first time, an electron–cyclotron-wave resonance (ECWR) source was used to deposit thin amorphous hydrocarbon (a-C:H) films. The deposition experiments have been supported by intensive plasma diagnostics with Langmuir probe (LP) measurements and energy mass spectrometry (EMS). The LP-investigations yielded a set of external parameters for homogeneously grown hard films at deposition rates of approximately 1.5 μm/h. By calibrating the EMS-system for particle number densities of stabile hydrocarbons and by using an appropriate fit-formula to evaluate absolute ion flux densities, the growth rates were in good agreement with predictions of the ‘thermally activated re-etching’-model (TR-model).