Effects of ion irradiation on the structural transformation of sol-gel derived TEOS/MTES thin films

Ion beam processing of organic/inorganic thin films has been shown to be an effective means in converting polymeric films into their final ceramic-like state. In this study, hybrid sol-gel derived thin films based on TEOS (tetraethylorthosilicate) Si(OC2H5)4 and MTES (methyltriethoxysilane) CH3Si(OC2H5)3 were prepared and deposited on Si substrates by spin coating. After the films were allowed to air dry, they were heat treated at 300 °C for 10 min. Ion irradiation was performed at room temperature using 125 keV H+ and 250 keV N2+ ions with fluences ranging from 1 × 1014 to 5 × 1016 ions/cm2. FT-IR and Raman spectroscopies were used to quantify the chemical structural transformations which occurred including the evolution of the organic components, the cross-linking of silica clusters, and the clustering of carbon.