Synthesis and structure of nitrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin films prepared by a pulsed filtered vacuum arc deposition

Abstract

Nitrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C:N) thin films have been prepared by a pulsed filtered vacuum arc deposition system at various conditions. The chemical composition and structure of the ta-C:N films were investigated by Non-Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, Raman, and Fourier transform infrared transmission measurements. It was observed that the amount of N atoms incorporated into the ta-C:N films, as well as the fraction and size of the sp 2 clusters, increased with increasing nitrogen pressure during deposition. On the other hand, the substrate negative bias voltage has different effects on the composition and structure of the films. The N content initially rises with increasing substrate negative bias voltage and then starts to decrease as it is further increased, while the sp 2 fraction increases monotonically with the increase of negative bias voltage. No or very few CN bond exists in the films. With increasing N content the components of the single CN and disorder activated CC diminish. The compressive stress in the films is found to decrease sharply with the increase of nitrogen content, and then keep almost constant when the N content is increased further.