Ferrum doped diamond-like carbon films: technology and nonlinear electron transport

A. S. Vedeneev^a, D. V. Kolodko^ab, A. M. Kozlov^a, V. A. Luzanov^a, I. A. Sorokin<sup>ab

a</sup> Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Fryazino Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Fryazino, Russia
^b National Engineering Physics Institute "MEPhI", Moscow, Russia

Abstract: A technology has been developed for synthesis of the Ferrum doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) films by sputtering of the Fe cathode and plasma-chemical deposition of the DLC in the hallow- cathode discharge. Dependencies of transverse electron current on applied voltage and time were studied at room temperature for the W/DLC(Fe)/W samples with the DLC thickness of 50 and 100 nm and Fe concentration of 20 at.%, where Fe impurity stimulated a change of the carbon hybridization type in high resistive $sp^3$ intervals separating low resistive $sp^2$ regions (nano-clusters) between which hopping electron transport occurs. Non-linearity of the DLC(Fe) electron properties revealed in the fields $\ge$ 10$^5$ V/cm is connected with $sp^3\to sp^2$ transitions as well as with field effects in disordered mesoscopic electron systems at the hopping electron transport.

Keywords: diamond-like carbon, plasma-chemical synthesis, hybridization, percolation, hopping electron transport.

Received: 28.03.2024
Revised: 14.06.2024
Accepted: 14.06.2024

DOI: 10.61011/PJTF.2024.19.58657.19934

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