Influence of field frequency during plasma-chemical deposition on the structure and properties of silicon-carbon coatings

The results of the electrophysical, mechanical properties, surface morphology and structure studies of silicon-carbon coatings prepared by plasma-chemical deposition of an organosilicon precursor at different frequencies of the axial electric field are presented. It is shown that the reason for changes in the characteristics of coatings with variations in the field frequency is a change in the ratio of the concentrations of carbon atoms with different hybridization of electron orbitals. The dependences of all studied characteristics on the field frequency have two different sections. At frequencies from 0.1 to 1.0 MHz, significant and non-monotonic changes in the properties of coatings are observed with variations in the frequency of the electric field. At frequencies above 1.0 MHz, the properties of the resulting coatings are practically independent of frequency. Based on an analysis of physical properties and Raman spectroscopy studies, a model of coating structure evolution with a change in the field frequency during their deposition is proposed.