Amorphous carbon thin films

This chapter focuses on the evolution of a carbon (C) thin films and maps out the significant contributions to the field by numerous research laboratories. The impact of the microstructure and growth on the optical and electrical properties is also examined in the chapter. New results show how ion implantation allows a methodology to delocalize gap states within these films. Carbon is unique in its structure by being able to form one of the strongest materials known to man—diamond—or one that is soft—graphite—by virtue of the way in which each atom bonds to another. All of these variations are made possible by the three different bond hybridizations that are available to carbon. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) should generally be reserved for polycrystalline or nanocrystalline carbon films, whereas amorphous carbon films should generally fall into the categories of polymer such as amorphous carbon (PAC), graphite-like amorphous carbon (GAC), diamond-like amorphous carbon (DAC), tetrahedral amorphous carbon (TAC), and nano-composite amorphous carbon (NAC).