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US4935303A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Novel diamond-like carbon film and process for the production thereof

Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1988-10-14
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Granted: 1990-06-19
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Expires: 2008-10-14
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Abstract

Abstract A general-purpose novel diamond-like carbon film (DLC film) and its manufacture, and the DLC film is characterized by the following items (i) to (iv); (i) the film structure contains mainly diamond crystalline phases, and has a hydrogen content of 20 atomic %, the presence of diamond crystalline phases is confirmed by analysis by the electron diffraction method, and the diffraction peak appears at 2θ=43.9 by analysis by the X-ray diffraction method; (ii) the density is 1.8 g/cm 3 or over; (iii) the film surface is smooth and excellent in etching resistance; and (iv) the film is chemically stable and structurally stable, and these stabilities are not deteriorated under high temperature conditions.

Inventors

  • 👤 Keiko Ikoma
  • 👤 Noriko Kurihara
  • 👤 Keiji Hirabayashi
  • 👤 Yasushi Taniguchi
  • 👤 Kenji Ando
  • 👤 Susumu Ito

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-27 07:34
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/52; C23C16/22; C23C16/26; C30; C30B; C30B25/00; C30B25/02; C30B25/10; C30B25/105; C30B29/00; C30B29/02; C30B29/04; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/30

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim 177 words
A diamond-like carbon film having diamond crystalline phases and including hydrogen atoms in an amount of no greater than about 20 atomic %; wherein the density of said film being at least 1.8 g/cm 3 , said diamond-like carbon film being formed on a substrate by the process comprising: (i) simultaneously (a) applying a magnetic field and microwave energy to a raw mat®rial gas capable of supplying carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms to form a plasma from said raw material gas having (i) C 2 active species and (ii) CH active species and (b) maintaining a pressure of 1×10 -2 to 10 Torr so as to provide a ratio of plasma emission spectrum strength IC 2 due to said C 2 active species to the plasma emission I CH due to said CH active species from 5≧IC 2 /I CH ≧0.05 and (ii) maintaining the temperature of said substrate from 350° to 700° C., whereby an even surfaced, etch-resistant diamond-like film which is chemically and structurally stable even at high temperature conditions is formed on said substrate.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 177 words
A diamond-like carbon film having diamond crystalline phases and including hydrogen atoms in an amount of no greater than about 20 atomic %; wherein the density of said film being at least 1.8 g/cm 3 , said diamond-like carbon film being formed on a substrate by the process comprising: (i) simultaneously (a) applying a magnetic field and microwave energy to a raw mat®rial gas capable of supplying carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms to form a plasma from said raw material gas having (i) C 2 active species and (ii) CH active species and (b) maintaining a pressure of 1×10 -2 to 10 Torr so as to provide a ratio of plasma emission spectrum strength IC 2 due to said C 2 active species to the plasma emission I CH due to said CH active species from 5≧IC 2 /I CH ≧0.05 and (ii) maintaining the temperature of said substrate from 350° to 700° C., whereby an even surfaced, etch-resistant diamond-like film which is chemically and structurally stable even at high temperature conditions is formed on said substrate.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 178 words
A process for producing a diamond-like carbon film having diamond crystalline phases and including hydrogen atoms in an amount no greater than about 20 atomic %; wherein the density of said film being at least 1.8 g/cm 3 , said diamond-like carbon film being formed on a substrate by the process comprising: (i) simultaneously (a) applying a magnetic field and microwave energy to a raw material gas capable of supplying carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms to form a plasma from said raw material gas having (i) C 2 active species and (ii) CH active species and (b) maintaining a pressure of 1×10 -2 to 10 Torr so as to provide a ratio of plasma emission spectrum strength IC 2 due to said C 2 active species to the plasma emission I CH due to said CH active species from 5≧I C2 /I CH ≧0.05 and (ii) maintaining the substrate temperature at 350° to 700° C., whereby an even-surfaced, etch resistant, diamond-like film which is chemically and structurally stable even at high temperature conditions is formed on said substrate.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 178 words
A process for producing a diamond-like carbon film having diamond crystalline phases and including hydrogen atoms in an amount no greater than about 20 atomic %; wherein the density of said film being at least 1.8 g/cm 3 , said diamond-like carbon film being formed on a substrate by the process comprising: (i) simultaneously (a) applying a magnetic field and microwave energy to a raw material gas capable of supplying carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms to form a plasma from said raw material gas having (i) C 2 active species and (ii) CH active species and (b) maintaining a pressure of 1×10 -2 to 10 Torr so as to provide a ratio of plasma emission spectrum strength IC 2 due to said C 2 active species to the plasma emission I CH due to said CH active species from 5≧I C2 /I CH ≧0.05 and (ii) maintaining the substrate temperature at 350° to 700° C., whereby an even-surfaced, etch resistant, diamond-like film which is chemically and structurally stable even at high temperature conditions is formed on said substrate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 19 words
The process according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic field is of sufficient intensity to satisfy electron resonating conditions.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 30 words
The process according to claim 3, wherein the microwave energy is applied at a frequency of 2.45 GHz, and the intensity of said magnetic field is at least 875 gauss.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

JPS5963732A Cited
JPS6227575A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1993-06-18 1993-12-18 1994-06-19 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1997-06-18 1997-12-18 1998-06-19 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2001-06-18 2001-12-18 2002-06-19 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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