Optical Chacterization of Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of Nanocarbon Film Materials

In this paper we describe the optical emission spectroscopy studies of a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of nanostructured carbon films. The nano-carbon films were deposited from a hydrogen–methane gas mixture activated by a direct current discharge. The gas discharge plasma parameters providing a stable synthesis of different carbon films have been determined. The optical emission spectra have been obtained for the discharge plasma at different pressures and gas compositions of the plasma environment. A correlation between a graphite-like structure formation and a presence of carbon dimers C₂ in the activated gas mixture has been found. A characteristic optical emission of C₂ in swan-band was analyzed to determine a spatial distribution of the carbon dimers in plasma environment.