Role of RF power and gas mixture in some optical and photoluminescence properties of dual-plasma a-C:H films

Electronic properties of polymer-like hydrogenated amorphous carbon films, grown in a RF-assisted microwave plasma reactor, have been studied using optical absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopies. Using a Forouhi-Bloomer parametrization of π-π* transitions, two regimes are evidenced for increasing C atom density : a decrease of the optical gap Eππ* at constant (H/H+C) content attributed to sp2C clustering, followed by some H elimination with minor changes in Eππ* due to cross-linking of polymer chains. The photoluminescence efficiency in the visible range (peak at ≈ 2.3 eV) is found to decrease over four orders of magnitude at the onset of the cross-linking regime. This quenching is attributed to stress-induced non-radiative centers.