Synthesis of conductive Ti–C:H films on the stainless steel plates by PECVD process

High conductive diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings with good anti-corrosion properties were successfully produced via Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) with auxiliary glow discharge. DLCs were deposited on stainless steel plates and Si (100) wafer substrates in Ar/CH4 gas mixture at room temperature. The deposition pressure was ranged from 7.5 to 30 mTorr. Arc current, positive anode current and negative bias voltage were 60 A, 30 A, and 600–1000 V, respectively. With increasing anode current, ion density and electron temperature increased. Process pressure affected chemical composition of Ti–C:H films. Sheet resistance of the deposited DLCs decreased as bias voltage and anode current increased. Also, the sheet resistance decreased with decreasing process pressure. From corrosion test, corrosion potential and current density were about 107 mV and 0.4 µA/cm2, respectively. The corrosion potential and current density decreased as process pressure increased.