Fl. Freire et al., AMORPHOUS NITROGENATED CARBON-FILMS - STRUCTURAL MODIFICATIONS INDUCED BY THERMAL ANNEALING, Journal of vacuum science & technology. A. Vacuum, surfaces, and films, 12(6), 1994, pp. 3048-3053
Citations number
33
Categorie Soggetti
Physics, Applied","Materials Science, Coatings & Films
Hard amorphous nitrogenated carbon films [a-C:H(N)] deposited by self-
bias glow discharge were annealed in vacuum in the temperature range o
f 300-800 degrees C. The annealing time was 30 min. The structural and
compositional modifications induced by thermal annealing were followe
d by several analytical techniques: secondary ion mass spectrometry (S
IMS), Raman spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, elas
tic recoil detection (ERDA), and nuclear reaction analysis. The intern
al stress of the films was also measured. Nuclear analyses indicate th
at both nitrogen and hydrogen losses occur for annealing temperatures
higher than 300 degrees C. ERDA and SIMS results suggest that hydrogen
and nitrogen out-diffusion occurs by molecular transport through an i
nterconnect network of voids. In the same temperature range, Raman sca
ttering reveals an increase of the number and/or the size of the graph
ite domains. Internal stress is compressive for the as-deposited films
and changes to tensile for samples annealed at 800 degrees C, indicat
ing the progressive graphitization of films. A comparison with amorpho
us carbon films (a-C:H) is also made.