High density carbon films for patterning applications

A method of forming a carbon film on a semiconductor substrate, comprising:

• flowing a hydrocarbon-containing gas and dilution gas mixture into a process chamber having the semiconductor substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck, wherein a volumetric ratio of the dilution gas to the hydrocarbon-containing gas is 1:4 or greater;
• and
• generating a plasma by applying a first radio frequency (RF) bias to a first electrode disposed in the electrostatic chuck and a second RF bias to a second electrode disposed in the electrostatic chuck to deposit a diamond-like carbon film on the semiconductor substrate,
• wherein the semiconductor substrate is maintained at a temperature of −50° C. to 350° C.

A method of processing a substrate, comprising:

• flowing a hydrocarbon-containing gas mixture into a processing volume of a process chamber having the substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck, wherein the substrate comprises a film stack having a first dielectric layer and a second dielectric layer disposed over the first dielectric layer;
• generating a plasma by applying a first radio frequency (RF) bias to the electrostatic chuck to deposit a diamond-like carbon film on the substrate, wherein an elastic modulus of the diamond-like carbon film is 200 GPa to 400 GPa;
• forming a patterned photoresist layer over the diamond-like carbon film;
• etching the diamond-like carbon film in a pattern corresponding with the patterned photoresist layer resulting in etched portions;
• and
• depositing a material into the etched portions of the diamond-like carbon film.