DEPTH PROFILES IN SION AND ALON THIN-FILMS PRODUCED BY ION-IMPLANTATION

Sialon ceramics have several interesting mechanical properties that ma ke them candidates for applications at high temperatures. The aim of t his work is to define experimental procedures to obtain homogeneous Si AlON thin films. Thin layers (< 200 nm) of oxinitride were synthesized using nitrogen and oxygen implantation into Si or Al layers deposited on B4C or glassy carbon substrates. For this purpose, the deposited S i and Al thin layers have been successively implanted with 50 keV N-15 and O-18 for doses ranging from 1 X 10(17) to 1 X 10(18) ions/cm(2). High depth resolution profiles and stoichiometry have been measured us ing Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and the resonant nucl ear reactions N-15(p,alpha gamma) at 429 KeV and O-18(p,gamma) at 1928 keV. The chemical bonds were investigated by XPS and LEEIXS.