Evaluation of chemical and structural properties of germanium-carbon coatings deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Germanium-carbon coatings were deposited on silicon and glass substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using three different flow ratios of GeH4 and CH4 precursors. Elemental analysis, structural evaluation and microscopic investigation of coatings were performed using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Based on the results, the coatings exhibited a homogeneous and dense structure free of pores with a very good adhesion to substrate. The structural evaluation revealed that the germanium-carbon coatings were a kind of a Ge-rich composite material containing the amorphous and crystalline germanium and amorphous carbon with the mixture of Ge-Ge, Ge-C, C-C, Ge-H and C-H bonds. The result suggested that the amorphisation of the coatings could be increased with raising CH4:GeH4 flow rate ratio and subsequently increasing C amount incorporated into the coating.