THE PROPERTIES OF AMORPHOUS CARBON NITRIDE THIN FILMS SYNTHESIZED BY PULSED LASER DEPOSITION WITH VARIOUS PREPARATION CONDITIONS

Abstract

Surface morphology, deposition rate, bonding composition, structural, optical and electrical properties of XeCl excimer pulsed laser deposited amorphous carbon nitride ( a-CN x) films using camphoric carbon ( C 10 H 16 O ) target in 0.8 Torr nitrogen ( N ) gas ambient as a function of laser fluences (LF) (from 2.8 to 5.2 J/cm2) with fixed target-to-substrate distances (TSD) at 45 mm and substrate temperatures (ST) at 20°C; TSD (from 25 to 45 mm) with fixed LF at 3.4 J/cm2 and ST at 20°C; and ST (from 20 to 500°C) with fixed LF at 3.4 J/cm2 and TSD at 45 mm are reported. At fixed TSD and ST, the surface roughness, particle density, deposition rate and N content increase, whereas the particle size decreases with higher LF. When the LF and ST are fixed, decreasing TSD results in an increase in the irregular small particle size, particle density, surface roughness, deposition rate, N content. On the other hand, when the LF and TSD are fixed, the surface roughness, particle density and particle size increase, whereas the deposition rate decreases with higher ST. The N content increases with ST up to 400°C and decreases thereafter. We found that the amorphous structure of a-CN x films and the ratio of sp2 trihedral component to sp3 tetrahedral component are strongly dependent on the LF, TSD and ST. The a-CN x films with high N content have relatively high electrical resistivity.