Spectroscopic ellipsometry characterization of amorphous carbon and amorphous, graphitic and fullerene-like carbon nitride thin films

Carbon nitride (CNx) and amorphous carbon (a-C) thin films are deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering onto silicon (001) wafers under controlled conditions to achieve amorphous, graphitic and fullerene-like microstructures. As-deposited films are analyzed by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry in the UV–VIS–NIR and IR spectral ranges in order to get further insight into the bonding structure of the material. Additional characterization is performed by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, and Atomic Force Microscopy. Between eight and eleven resonances are observed and modeled in the ellipsometrically determined optical spectra of the films. The largest or the second largest resonance for all films is a feature associated with C–N or C–C modes. This feature is generally associated with sp3 C–N or sp3 C–C bonds, which for the nitrogen-containing films instead should be identified as a three-fold or two-fold sp2 hybridization of N, either substituted in a graphite site or in a pyridine-like configuration, respectively. The π→π⁎ electronic transition associated with sp2 C bonds in carbon films and with sp2 N bonds (as N bonded in pyridine-like manner) in CNx films is also present, but not as strong. Another feature present in all CNx films is a resonance associated with nitrile often observed in carbon nitrides. Additional resonances are identified and discussed and moreover, several new, unidentified resonances are observed in the ellipsometric spectra.