Spectroscopic Study of Plasma Polymerized a-C:H Films Deposited by a Dielectric Barrier Discharge

Plasma polymerized a-C:H thin films have been deposited on Si (100) and aluminum coated glass substrates by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operated at medium pressure using C₂H/Ar (m = 2, 4, 6) gas mixtures. The deposited films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (FT-IRRAS), Raman spectroscopy, and ellipsometry. FT-IRRAS revealed the presence of sp³ and sp² C-H stretching and C-H bending vibrations of bonds in the films. The presence of D and G bands was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Thin films obtained from C₂H₄/Ar and C₂H₆/Ar gas mixtures have I_D/I_G ratios of 0.45 and 0.3, respectively. The refractive indices were 2.8 and 3.1 for C₂H₄/Ar and C₂H₆/Ar films, respectively, at a photon energy of 2 eV.