Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1672086 | Thin Solid Films | 2008 | 5 Pages |
Carbon nitride (CNx) thin films with high nitrogen content were deposited on Si (100) substrates by using electron cyclotron resonance nitrogen plasma assisted pulsed laser deposition (ECR-PLD), and their thermal stability were studied by examining their composition and bonding behaviors upon post-deposition heat annealing in vacuum and in nitrogen ambient. The as-deposited films contain nitrogen content varying around 50 at.% and are primarily amorphous containing several bonding configurations between carbon and nitrogen atoms with different bond components depending on bias voltage applied to the substrates. In addition to the D, G and L Raman bands reported for most CNx thin films, three prominent Raman peaks were observed at 170, 260 and 616 cm− 1 from our as-deposited films. Composition analysis by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy measurement and chemical structure characterization by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman scattering measurements showed that the ECR-PLD deposited CNx thin films are quite stable upon annealing in vacuum up to 750 °C. The CNx films exhibit even higher thermal stability in nitrogen ambient.