Scanning Probe Measurement to Study Annealing Effects on the Electrical and Structural Properties of HDLC Thin Films

Abstract

Reactive gas plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was used for the facile surface deposition of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (HDLC) on a Si (100) substrate. The surface of the deposited layer is free of pinholes, homogeneous, and adheres well to the substrate. The synthesized surface HDLC was annealed in a vacuum at temperatures from 200 to 1000°C. Instrumental techniques FTIR, AFM, STM, and EC-AFM were successfully used to characterize the morphological changes in the HDLC films due to the annealing effect. Raman analysis was also performed along with STM and EC-AFM to determine the functional and conductive nature of the annealed surface of HDLC.