Composition and Phase Control for Molybdenum Nitride thin Films

Abstract

AbstractMolybdenum nitrides are active and selective hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) catalysts. The catalytic properties of molybdenum nitrides were found to be dependent on the structural properties. The purpose of research described in this paper was to synthesize molybdenum nitride thin films with well defined structures and stoichiometries using ion beam assisted deposition. The films were deposited by evaporating Mo metal, and simultaneously bombarding the growing film with low energy nitrogen ions. The phase constituents of the films were determined using x-ray diffraction and the film composition was obtained by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry.The film composition and phase constituents were strong functions of the ion-to-atom arrival rate ratio, ion energy and ion angle of incidence. Differences in the film composition for different arrival rate ratios and ion angles of incidence were interpreted based on reflection and sputtering effects. Our results suggest that phase formation was governed by the effective energy density per deposited atom. Evaluation of the effective energy density per deposited atom and its physical significance in ion beam assisted deposition is discussed.