High resistivity diamond-like carbon films have been grown on a variety of substrate surfaces using RF generated high-current hydrocarbon ion beams at low pressures. Stable films have been obtained in the thickness range of 0.3 to 1.2 �m with resistivities exceeding 1013 O-cm. These films have been deposited on smooth surfaces such as oxidized silicon, glass, quartz, aluminum and plastics. The films have smooth surfaces, great hardness and moderate dielectric constant (2.2 to 3.5). Optical absorption measurements show that these films are highly absorbing in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum and in the visible range their absorption coefficients exceed 104 cm-1 and the refractive indices fall in the range 1.75 to 2.17 at 632.8 nm.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films with 4-400 nm thickness were deposited on silicon substrates using direct ion beam from an RF inductively coupled CH4 - plasma (ICP) source. The dependence of the film electrical and photoelectrical properties on methane flow were examined. Two kinds of trapping centers with different activation energies and capture cross-sections, and very low densities were discovered by the Q-DLTS method. The influence of thermal annealing in air at 100-450°C was investigated. The current leakage and defect concentration were reduced while electrical breakdown field and photoresponse were increased in annealed films. The results obtained have been used for optimization of the technology to prepare thin films with good protective, electrically insulating, and passivating properties.

A series of hydrogenated amorphous germanium‐nitrogen (a‐GeN:H) alloys have been synthesized by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The structure and its thermal stability have been investigated by means of Raman Scattering and Fourier Transform Infrared techniques. It was found that the structure is changed from Ge‐Ge‐like to Ge‐N‐like when the nitrogen content x in a‐Ge1‐xNx:H is larger than 0.3. Some a‐GeN:H alloys were annealed for 30min at different temperature and it is shown that the film structural stability is significantly improved compared with pure a‐Ge:H film.

The electrical and optical properties of MBE grown Europium doped CaF2 layers onp‐ type Silicon (100) substrates reveal the possibility of using this materials system to fabricate light emitters on silicon. Low temperature MBE growth of the Eu:CaF2 layers permits the incorporation of up to 7.48 atomic weight % Eu in the epilayer without causing significant degradation of the layer ciystallinity. Strong room temperature photoluminescence in the blue‐violet spectral range has been observed in these samples, without any luminescence quenching even when the Eu concentration in the CaF2 epilayer is as high as 7.48 atomic weight percent. The current versus voltage data reveal that high current densities can be sustained through the Eu:CaF2 epilayers without causing catastrophic failure of the dielectric layer. Visible DC electroluminescence (EL) is observed by injecting electrons into Eu2+ doped CaF2 layers. High current densities up to ~50A/cm2 have been sustained through these materials with a DC bias of ~30 volts.

Photoluminescence measurements have been made on Eu-doped CaF2 thin films grown on Si(100) substrates. The dependence of the integrated intensity of both the zero-phonon line and the vibronic sideband on temperature and Eu concentration has been studied in the range of 10 – 300 K and 0.14 – 7.48 at. %, respectively. An anti-Stokes feature is visible in the emission spectra at 75 K, indicating a significant occupation of the excited vibrational states of Eu2+ by phonons before the transition at temperatures above 75 K. The integrated intensity of the vibronic sideband increases slightly as temperature increases. The solubility of Eu in CaF2 thin films grown on Si(100) is found to be somewhere around 4.05 at. % as confirmed by the increase of the line width of x-ray rocking curves and the decrease in the integrated intensity of the zero-phonon line with Eu concentration.