Methods of forming amorphous carbon hard mask layers and hard mask layers formed therefrom

A method of processing a substrate, comprising:

• depositing an amorphous carbon layer, comprising:
• positioning a substrate on a substrate support disposed in a first processing volume, wherein the first processing volume is a processing volume of a first processing chamber;
• flowing a processing gas into the first processing volume, wherein the processing gas comprises an inert gas and a reactive gas comprising hydrogen, nitrogen, or a combination thereof;
• maintaining the substrate at a deposition temperature of about 200° C. or less;
• applying pulsed DC power to a carbon target disposed in the first processing volume;
• forming a plasma of the processing gas;
• and
• depositing the amorphous carbon layer on the substrate;
• and
• annealing the substrate, comprising:
• positioning the substrate, having the amorphous carbon layer deposited thereon, in a second processing volume, wherein the second processing volume is a processing volume a second processing chamber;
• heating the substrate to an anneal temperature, wherein the anneal temperature is between about 50° C. and about 250° C.;
• and
• maintaining the substrate at the anneal temperature for less than about 30 minutes.