Silicon carbonitride by remote microwave plasma CVD from organosilicon precursor: Physical and mechanical properties of deposited Si:C:N films

Silicon carbonitride (Si:C:N) films produced by the remote microwave hydrogen plasma chemical vapor deposition (RP-CVD) using bis(dimethylamino)methylsilane as single-source precursor and hydrogen as an upstream gas for plasma generation, were examined in terms of their physical (density) and mechanical (hardness, elastic modulus, friction coefficient, and “plasticity index”) properties. The effect of substrate temperature (varied in the range of 30-400 °C) on the properties of Si:C:N films is presented. A reasonable compositional and structural dependencies of film properties were determined using, respectively, the XPS atomic concentration ratios N/Si and C/Si, as well as the relative integrated intensities of the IR absorption bands from the SiN and SiC bonds (controlled by deposition temperature), evaluated in the first part of this work. In view of their good mechanical properties, Si:C:N films seem to be useful coatings for improving surface mechanics of engineering materials.