Investigation of diamond-like-carbon films deposited on glass substrate by using a pulsed high energy density plasma gun

Smooth, dense and uniform nano-crystalline diamond-like-carbon (DLC) film is deposited on an optical glass substrate by pulsed high energy density plasma (PHEDP) gun discharging in nitrogen atmosphere. Scanning electron microscope, Raman spectra and EMSA show that, the grain size of the DLC film is less than 20 nm; there are a number of nitrogen atoms and nano-crystalline diamond in the DLC film. The sheet resistance of the film is larger than 109 Ω/sq. When the discharge voltage is lower and discharge distance is longer, the deposited film is loose. Theoretic analysis show that, at higher discharge voltage, the deposited grain is larger, with longer discharge distance, the collision force between deposition grain and substrate is weaker. The theoretic results are in agreement with the experimental conclusion