Effect of DC self-bias on the adhesion of diamond-like carbon deposited on metal tracks by RF-PECVD

The adhesion and material properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC), deposited by the radio-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique, can be significantly affected by the substrate material on which the film is deposited and by the substrate topography. These issues have serious implications for applications in electronic devices and hard coating in small areas. We have investigated the adhesion of the diamond-like carbon films to Si substrates characterised by varying degrees of metal coverage. The deposited DLC films were studied at different DC self-bias values. This investigation demonstrates the dependence of the adherence of the DLC films to the metal tracks on the imposed the DC self-bias.