Temperature dependence of conductivity of nitrogen-containing diamondlike carbon films deposited from pyridine

We investigated the effects of atmospheric and substrate temperatures on diamondlike carbon (DLC) films prepared by biased thermal-filament plasma chemical vapor deposition using vapor benzene and pyridine as a source. The DLC film deposited from pyridine which contains a nitrogen atom was conductive. Although the conductivity was dependent on the substrate temperature in the deposition process, the concentration of nitrogen and hydrogen in the conductive film was not. The reason for the dependence is the increase in number of hopping sites and the delocalization of pi electrons with increasing substrate temperature.