Impacts of substrate bias and dilution gas on the properties of Si-incorporated diamond-like carbon films by plasma deposition using organosilane as a Si source

Highlights: • Effects of substrate bias and dilution gas on the properties of Si-DLC films have been investigated. • The Si-DLC film prepared using a pulse bias with H₂ presents the highest adhesion strength. • The Si-DLC film prepared using a pulse bias with H₂ shows the lowest friction coefficient. - Abstract: We have deposited silicon-incorporated diamond-like carbon (Si-DLC) films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using monomethylsilane (CH₃SiH₃; MMS) as a Si source, and systematically investigated the impacts of substrate bias and dilution gas on the mechanical and tribological properties of the Si-DLC films. The use of a pulse bias and hydrogen dilution is very effective in suppressing the generation of particles during the deposition. The internal stress of the Si-DLC films deposited using the pulse bias tended to be lower than that of the Si-DLC films deposited using a DC bias, while the hydrogen dilution resulted in the increase in the internal stress. On the other hand, the Si-DLC film deposited with H₂ using the pulse bias showed the highest adhesion strength and the lowest friction coefficient. The use of the pulse bias resulted in the increase in the wear resistance.