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Optical emission spectroscopy was applied to study the rf glow discharge in hydrocarbons used for the deposition of amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H). The optical data in conjunction with mass spectrometric measurements show that the species found in the glow region are very specific for the hydrocarbon used (e.g., benzene), but they are not directly related to the structure of the a-C:H film deposited. In the vicinity of the negatively self-biased cathode strong emission from CH is observed, irrespective of which hydrocarbon is used. The excited CH radicals are shown to result from fragmentation of the impacting hydrocarbon molecules. We conclude that this fragmentation upon impact is the key mechanism for the formation of hard a-C:H, irrespective of the type of hydrocarbon used for the deposition.

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