Deposition and Characterization of Thin Si-B-C-N Films by DC Reactive Magnetron Sputtering of Composed Si/B4C Target

Abstract

Deposition and characterization of thin Si-B-C-N films by dc reactive magnetron sputtering of composed Si/B 4 C targetThe effect of the gas mixture composition on the structure, chemical bond character and hardness of Si-B-C-N films was systematically studied. A series of Si-B-C-N films was deposited by reactive dc magnetron sputtering of the target composed of Si disc with B 4 C chips placed in the sputtering zone of disc. The films were deposited with nitrogen fractions 30-to-70 % in Ar/N 2 gas mixture and annealed in a vacuum at temperatures up to 1200 °C. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, indentation tests. Addition of nitrogen in the gas mixture up to 60 % led to an increase of hardness from 13.4 up to 17.8 GPa. With further increase in nitrogen content in gas mixture the film hardness decreased. The latter is caused by formation of the weak B-N bonds as well as C-C and C=C bonds that are characteristic for h-BNlike phase and graphite phase, respectively.

Directional Formation of Reactive Oxygen Species Via a Non‐Redox Catalysis Strategy That Bypasses Electron Transfer Process

“…The interaction between Fe and B was first investigated by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The deconvoluted B 1s signals of 0.3Fe‐BNC revealed the coexistence of B–N (≈192.0 eV) and B–C (≈190.9 eV) bonds; [ 12 ] while, the B─B (≈188.0 eV) and B─Fe bonds (≈188.4 eV) were absent, [ 13 ] underlining that B was isolated without coordinating with Fe ( Figure a). In the N 1s XPS spectrum of 0.1Fe‐NC (Figure 2b; Table S2, Supporting Information), the peaks centered at 398.4, 399.2, 400.4, and 401.1 eV were assigned to pyridinic N, Fe–N, pyrrolic N, and graphitic N, respectively.…”

Preparation and Performance of Multilayer Si-B-C-N/Diamond-like Carbon Gradient Films

“…This finding confirms that the size of the bombarded target particles gradually increases with increasing sputtering power, eventually leading to the deposition of film grains on the substrate. These larger particle clusters could be graphite clusters, nitride, and boride particles [ 14 ]. The cross-sections of the films are smooth and without obvious defects, and the demarcation line between the layers is not obvious owing to the gradient film preparation method applied.…”

“…J. Vlček et al [ 13 ], for example, deposited amorphous Si-B-C-N films with smooth surfaces on SiC and Cu floating substrates and showed that the films had an elastic recovery of 75% with suitable optical transmittance and oxidation resistance. Onoprienko A A et al [ 14 ] prepared Si-B-C-N films with controlled N contents and high hardness by DC reactive magnetron sputtering; the authors’ results [ 15 ] revealed the potential of B-C-N synergy in the design of new materials with enhanced properties.…”