Characterization of carbon films microstructure by atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy

Atomic force microscopy has been used to study the surface irregularities of hydrogenated and unhydrogenated carbon films grown by rf-powered glow discharge and dc-magnetron sputtering, respectively. In general films produced with the latter technique have rougher surfaces. In glow discharge produced samples, roughness can be reduced by increasing rf power during deposition. In sputtered films surface roughness is reduced by either lowering substrate temperature or reducing the power density during deposition. The relation between the microstructure and the crystalline state was done using Raman scattering.