Parameters scan of carbon coatings on silicon substrate by plasma immersion ion implantation in a RF plasma

This paper reports on the production of carbon coatings onto a silicon substrate, using a lower power radiofrequency (RF) generator, combined with a plasma immersion ion implantation (PHI) driver. An RF, 13.6 MHz, generator operating at 30 W, was used to produce plasmas using a mix of C₂H₂ and H₂ as feeding gas. In the experiments, a mirror polished silicon (100) substrate is exposed to the RF plasma for 20 m, being the sample holder biased through a PHI driver, operating in the 1 to 8 kV range, at 2 kHz. Different gas mixing ratios are used. Plasma properties are characterized using a single Langmuir probe and visible light spectroscopy. The morphology, structure and atomic composition of the resulting coatings are characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Raman spectroscopy (RS) and X-ray difraction (XRD). A detailed parameter scan of the resulting carbon coatings is presented, in correlation with the plasma properties which result in a given surface condition.