Formation of C–N thin films by ion beam deposition

Abstract

Thin carbon–nitrogen films have been formed by direct impingement of 5–100 eV C+ and N+ or N+2 ions upon solid surfaces, as well as by 5–350 eV N+ bombardment of graphite surfaces. The influences of ion energy, N+/C+ arrival rate, and type of substrate have been studied. The films deposited in this manner are found to be essentially amorphous, with some graphitic regions on the scale of a few nm. Two distinct types of C–N bonding, one attributed to graphitelike local structure (C–N π bonds) and one attributed to C3N4-like local structure (C–N σ bonds), have been detected by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Films deposited by dual-beam deposition and single-beam nitridation at 75 eV or less exhibit differences in the single-bonded structure. Total nitrogen concentrations of up to 47 at. % have been measured by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. The C KVV Auger line shapes of the two phases have been determined by factor analysis. These line shapes are consistent with the expected band structures for the two phases. Film growth is consistent with a combined surface deposition/subplantation model, with high incident energies resulting preferentially in damage to the C3N4-like phase. A significant amount of disorder is present in all of the films, as indicated by AES line shapes and transmission electron microscopy analysis. Preferential sputtering of N is observed during AES depth profiling with a 1 keV Ar+ beam. Implications of this work for deposition of C–N films by energetic particle bombardment are discussed.

On the Mechanism of Urea‐Induced Titania Modification

“…Nitrogen 1s binding energies of 399.2 and 400.5 eV as measured for TiO 2 -N,C are in agreement with literature values reported for carbon nitrides (399-400 eV, C=N-C) [82,83] and similar graphite-like phases (400.6 eV, N À C sp 2 ), [84,85] and of polycyanogen (399.0, 400.5 eV (-C=N-) x ). [86] Corresponding values for the as-obtained mixture of melem/melon are 399.2 and 398.4 eV.…”

Low-Pressure CVD of Carbon Nitride Using Triazine-Containing Precursors

“…[39] In all samples, C and N are chemically bonded as can be seen from the shifts of the main XPS maxima from the binding energy values typical for pure elements, e.g., from~284.5 eV for C1s and 402±404 eV for N1s. [40,41] The C1s peak of the sample deposited at 550 C is rather broad and asymmetric ( tablished after exposure of the layer to air, [8,42] three other peaks could be observed at binding energies of 284.5, 285.8, and 287.5 eV. Two of these peaks, toward higher energies (Fig.…”

Comparison of CxNy:H films obtained by deposition using magnetron sputtering or an inductively coupled plasma

“…In the former a more C-N contribution is apparent, but in it and the corresponding ICP-deposited specimens the presence in the N 1s envelope of contributions from implanted and trapped free nitrogen in the films cannot be discounted. Similar to the behaviour of the C 1s envelope, B 2 and D 2 differ slightly in the contributing N 1s species, especially C N. Note that the peak at 400.3 eV associated with NO species may also include some sp 2 -or sp 3 -bonded nitrogen arising from locally different chemical environments within the matrices 2,8,12,13 as contributions to the peak at this particular energy position.…”