Growth of carbon thin film by low-energy mass-selected ion beam deposition

Low-energy mass-selected C⁺ ion beams have been used to deposit thin carbon films onto a Si(1 0 0) surface covered with a native oxide layer kept at various temperatures in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environment in order to find the optimum deposition conditions for the formation of diamond and diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films. The deposited films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Diamond and DLC films were found to be produced for C⁺ ion energies between 80 and 120 eV at temperatures from room temperature to 200°C. For the film grown with a C⁺ ion energy of 120 eV at room temperature, Raman spectroscopy showed clear evidence of diamond formation while XRD showed diamond crystal orientation with the (1 1 0) plane parallel to the silicon surface.