Mass-separated ion beam deposition of diamond-like thin films

Deposition of diamond-like thin films has been achieved using mass-separated C+, CH+3 and CH+4 ion beams of energies between 1 and 40 keV. Characterization using different methods shows that the structure and physical properties of the films obtained are closer to those of diamond when 30–40 keV CH+3 or CH+4 ion beams are used. The hydrogen concentration, measured with elastic recoil detection analysis, is lower than 1 at.% for all the 30 keV hydrocarbon beams used.