Abstract
Using the common alkoxy silane, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), diamond-like carbon/SiO2 nanocomposite thin films were deposited at room temperature using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. Compositional control could be obtained by adding oxygen to the TEOS/Ar RF plasma and also by varying the RF power. The index of refraction could be varied from 1.563 to 1.492 (at 634.1 nm) by adding 0 to 200 sccm of O2 (at 0.18 W/cm2 RF); and the addition of O2 increased the optical clarity of the nanocomposite in the visible spectrum until it was completely transparent. However, this addition decreased the deposition rate substantially and shifted the carbon-bonding structure to graphitic carbon from diamond-like carbon, yet still remained hard enough to pass an elementary scratch test. TEOS presents itself as a versatile single-source precursor with the ability to deposit tunable dielectrics depending on flow chemistry or RF power.
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61.46.+w; 78.67.-n; 81.07.-b
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Senkevich , J., Yang , GR., Lu , TM. et al. Compositional control of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited diamond-like carbon/SiO2 nanocomposite thin films. Appl Phys A 77, 581–584 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-002-1501-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-002-1501-x