Raman characteristics of hard carbon-nitride films deposited by reactive ionized cluster beam techniques

Abstract

Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the effect of nitrogen pressure on the structure of carbon-nitride films deposited by the reactive ionized cluster beam (RICB) technique. It is noted that a peak centered at about 1248 cm−1 emerges in the Raman spectra and becomes more pronounced when nitrogen pressure is increased. This peak can be attributed to the covalent NC single bonds. Moreover, the structure of the deposited films changes from DLC to diamond, and finally to carbon-nitride with the increase of nitrogen pressure. The results of Knoop hardness tests show the films have rather high hardness up to 6200 kg f/mm2.