Nitrogen bonding in aluminum oxynitride films

Assignment of oxidation states of N1s in XPS spectra of aluminum oxynitride by curve fitting is difficult. The XPS curve fitting was previously discussed in the paper published in J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 224 (1998) 31, in which O1s photoelectrons from GeO2 glass were used to illustrate how to fit the XPS spectra. Three different ways were pointed out to eliminate the ambiguity caused by curve fitting such as comparing the data to data from standard samples, investigating the continuous surface modifications caused by slowly sputtering the surface, and monitoring the continuous surface modifications due to gradual increases in surface species under heating, cooling, or irradiation. Our recent work in aluminum oxynitride films provides another example of how to fit the XPS spectra of N1s by three different oxidation states of N+, N2+, and N3+, by comparison of the measured data to data from previously published results, and by the gradual changes of spectra as functions of the oxygen contents in the films. Three oxidation states in different nitrogen bonding in the aluminum oxynitride, AlO2N, Al2O5N2, and AlO3N, were clearly deduced.