ABSTRACT
The possibility of using energetic beams to modify the properties of diamond-like carbon films was first demonstrated by Davis (1993) for nitrogen doped carbon films using a 300 keV electron beam. However, the insulating character of a pure diamond-like carbon film was not retained when the film was modified by nitrogen doping (Veerasamy et al. 1993). We have conducted our experiments on undoped amorphous diamond like carbon films using both high-energy electron beams and uranium ion beams. The modified structures are characterized by atomic force microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. The conductive channels in both cases are found to be regions rich in sp2 bonded carbon atoms.
