Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the fabrication of integrated circuits. More particularly, the embodiments described herein provide techniques for depositing nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon films for patterning applications. In one or more embodiments, a method for processing a substrate includes flowing a deposition gas containing a hydrocarbon compound and a nitrogen dopant compound into a processing volume of a process chamber having a substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck, and generating a plasma at or above the substrate by applying a first RF bias to the electrostatic chuck to deposit a nitrogen- doped diamond-like carbon film on the substrate. The nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon film has a density of greater than 1.5 g/cc and a compressive stress of about -20 MPa to less than -600 MPa.