The influence of DC biasing on the uniformity of a-C:H films for three-dimensional substrates by using a plasma-based ion implantation technique

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films were synthesized by the use of a PBII technique using an electron cyclotron resonance plasma source with a mirror field, and the influence of the biasing conditions on the properties and the uniformity of the three-dimensional surfaces of a-C:H films was investigated. For convex faces, the film thickness was almost constant, independent of the deposition conditions, because a uniform plasma surrounded the substrates. For concave faces, the thickness of the films that formed without biasing and with only the application of a pulse bias decreased when the microwave-incident angle was decreased. On the other hand, when a DC bias was applied to the substrate in addition to a pulse bias, the uniformity of the thickness was much improved with a distribution within ±10%. The improvement in the uniformity was assumed to be the result of the continuous supply of ions in the plasma to the surfaces by the DC biasing