Abstract
Diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films are nowadays used in various applications such as a protective coating against wear or corrosion, in car parts and recently its use is more and more noticed in particular biomedical applications. This study focuses on assessing the DLC deposition mechanism of the Ionized evaporation method. The experiment equipment consists of a substrate, an internal cathode filament and an anode arrangement. DLC thin films were deposited on silicon substrates using benzene (C 6 H6) gas or cyclohexane (C6 H12). In this study, therefore, deposition mechanism of the Ionized evaporation method was investigated by changing the processing conditions such as anode current, gas flow, etc. Mechanical properties of the DLC films were also examined with reference to these conditions. Furthermore, benzene and cyclohexane were examined as a source gas by comparing deposition rate and material properties. The deposition rate of the DLC thin films deposited by benzene gas is about three times larger than those deposited by cyclohexane gas. Hardness and Young's modulus of the DLC thin films deposited by benzene were 1.3 times larger than those deposited by cyclohexane. Such differences were explained by the difference in the state of plasma generation.
