Interference effects on the ID/IG ratio of the Raman spectra of diamond-like carbon thin films

Abstract

Ratio of the intensity of D- Raman peak and G- Raman peak (ID/IG) is often used for characterization of diamond-like carbon films, for example to estimate number and size of the sp2 clusters. In this paper we investigate how the interference effects in the film influence this ratio. It is shown that for films on silicon substrates the distortion of the real ratio can reach 10 % and for films on metals even 40 %. This should be taken into account if some conclusions are made from the measured ID/IG ratio.