Protective properties of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon coatings against electrostatic discharge damage

Abstract An Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) causes physical defects in electrical devices and lowers their production yield. As electrostatic charge is maintained on insulative surfaces, ESD protection materials, especially surface treatment protection solutions, are in high demand in the electrical industry. Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) film shows sp3 (insulative) and sp2 (conductive) structures whose resistivity is adjustable to the ESD protection range according to the sp3/sp2 ratio. In this study, two types of hydrogenated DLCs on conductive and non-conductive substrates were prepared by Linear Ion Source and Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation. The protective properties against ESD, such as resistance and the slow discharge behavior of DLCs on metal and insulative substrates, as well as their tribological properties and structure, were investigated. It was shown that DLCs on insulative materials exhibit good and slow discharge properties to protect electrical devices from ESD damage. The promotion of DLCs in the semiconductor industry could be an excellent solution to raise production yield due to their provision of ESD protection and their good tribological properties.