Abstract

Hard carbon coatings are being studied to see if they can be used as environmentally protective coatings for tellurium based optical recording media. These carbon coatings are mostly amorphous in structure¹ and have been referred to as diamond-like in recognition of their typical physical characteristics: high mechanical hardness (2000 Knoop), optical transparency with refractive index greater than 2.0 in the visible and infrared, and high electrical insulation (>10¹⁰ ohm cm)^1,2. The most common technique for producing these films is by plasma decomposition of a hydrocarbon gas (or plasma CVD, PCVD) and subsequent deposition of a carbon film on one of the plasma system electrode^1,3. We have used both this technique and direct carbon ion beam depositor: (C1BD) in experiments to coat Te³.

© 1983 Optical Society of America