Vibrational and optical properties of carbon nitride films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Carbon nitride films were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering of a graphite target in a nitrogen atmosphere at different pressures and temperatures. The films were characterized by infrared, Raman and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopies, as well as by ellipsometry. We obtained hydrogen-free dark films when a negative bias was applied to the substrates; the samples prepared at room temperature without bias were soft and hydrogen could be detected in their infrared spectra. The most prominent features, between 1000 and 1700 cm-1, in both the Raman and infrared spectra were modelled using two Gaussian curves. As the nitrogen content was varied, the ratio between their areas followed opposite trends in the Raman and the infrared spectra. The presence of hydrogen caused the main feature to absorb more strongly at lower frequencies but did not alter the trend. The presence of six and five membered heteroaromatic rings is suggested to explain the increase of the infrared vibrations associated with double conjugated double bonds. The index of refraction can be correlated with features in the infrared spectra, suggesting that its value increases as the number of carbon and nitrogen double bonds increases. Ion bombardment reduces nitrogen incorporation; it is responsible for the densification of the films and the introduction of several defects that make films prepared under bias more absorbing in the low energy region.