Correlation between N 1s core level x-ray photoelectron and x-ray absorption spectra of amorphous carbon nitride films

Abstract

This work presents a comparative analysis of the N 1s core level spectra, as measured by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), of amorphous CNx films which gives evidence of the existing correlation between the different components that constitute the respective spectra. After annealing, the contribution of XPS at 399.3 eV and the components of XAS at 399.6 and 400.8 eV are clearly enhanced. They are assigned to sp2 with two neighbors and to sp states of nitrogen. In addition, the XPS component at 401.3 eV is related to the XAS feature at 402.0 eV and has been assigned to sp2 nitrogen bonded to three carbon neighbors.

Determination of the optical characteristics of turbid media by the laser optoacoustic method

“…This transferred carbon-rich layer prevents direct contact between the ball and the DLC film, and acts as a 'lubricant' by the low shear strength within the interface, resulting in a very low friction coefficient (0.025) [2,19,20]. Furthermore, as the tribological test is performed in a nitrogen environment, the nitrogen molecules are expected to hinder the access of active species like water and oxygen molecules to the counterfaces and prevent the friction-induced tribochemical oxidation of the hydrogenated DLC films (see figure 8(a)), thus reducing the friction coefficient [34,35]. However, the mass transfer of carbon from the DLC film to the Si 3 N 4 ball during the friction testing leads to a much higher wear rate of the DLC film (6.5 × 10 −7 mm 3 N −1 m −1 ) and the early failure of the film.…”

Core level spectra of amorphous carbon nitride

“…[13][14][15][16][17] A clear correlation of N 1s x-ray absorption and photoemission spectra has been observed in the particular case of amorphous carbon nitride. 13,16 The physical origin of this correlation seems to be the large initial state effects ͑charge shifts, which affect both XAS and XPS spectra in the same way͒, while final state effects ͑which are different for XAS and XPS spectra͒ are almost an order of magnitude smaller.…”

“…[13][14][15][16][17] A clear correlation of N 1s x-ray absorption and photoemission spectra has been observed in the particular case of amorphous carbon nitride. 13,16 The physical origin of this correlation seems to be the large initial state effects ͑charge shifts, which affect both XAS and XPS spectra in the same way͒, while final state effects ͑which are different for XAS and XPS spectra͒ are almost an order of magnitude smaller. 13,18 In this paper the changes in local structure for CN films are systematically studied as a function of sample preparation conditions using synchrotron radiation core level spectroscopies such as x-ray absorption, photoemission, and Auger electron spectroscopy.…”

Quantitative REELS of amorphous carbon and carbon nitride films

“…The second one, a low-energy end Hall ion source, is used to bombard the film during its deposition with reactive N 2 C ions to produce the nitrides. The sputter conditions for a-C were 1.0 mA/cm 2 REELS spectra of the different films were measured in a PHI 3027 spectrometer equipped with a double pass cylindrical mirror analyser at a base pressure better than 10 10 Torr. The spectra were measured at three different primary electron energies (i.e.…”