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A gas mixture consisting of C2H2, Ar and N2 was utilized to create a plasma beam source powerful enough to deposit nitrogenated and hydrogenated amorphous carbon. The nitrogenated and hydrogenated a-C films showed unique attributes, especially the mobility of the charge carriers, optical gap and electrical conductivity. Defect density fell due to an increase in nitrogen incorporation. Moreover, the films were characterized by infrared and Raman spectroscopy and photo dermal deflection.

Intense argon ion plating and magnetron sputtering were employed in depositing amorphous carbon thin films with high sp3 content. Transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of graphitic regions in the thin films. The difference in the electronic and optical characteristics of the thin films and the films deposited using filtered arc and mass selected ion beam are due to variations in the microstructure of the tetrahedral amorphous carbon films.

The effects of deposition temperature on the attributes of hydrogenated carbon films deposited from an ionized plasma beam are evaluated using two temperatures: a lower transition at around 250 degrees centigrade and a higher one at 450 degrees centigrade. Smoother and higher density, sp3 bonding and compressive stress are seen at low transition temperatures. Variances in the optical gap are observed to be wide.