Optical Properties of Carbon Films Obtained by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

The series of diamond-like carbon films was fabricated using Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) setup designed for deposition of amorphous silicon films. The deposited films were analyzed in terms of optical properties. The limitations of the deposition parameters were found. The set of deposition parameters for carbon film deposition with suitable optical properties was proposed. It was established that by changing of the main PE-CVD parameters the DLC films having low and intermediate refractive indices may be obtained. In combination with high optical bandgap and low extinction coefficient it makes possible to apply the DLC films as antireflection and passivation layers for solar cells and IR optical elements.