INFRARED ELLIPSOMETRY ON HEXAGONAL AND CUBIC BORON-NITRIDE THIN-FILMS

Infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry (IRSE) over the wavelength range f rom 700 to 3000 cm(-1) has been used to study and distinguish the micr ostructure of polycrystalline hexagonal and cubic baron nitride thin f ilms deposited by magnetron sputtering onto (100) silicon. The IRSE da ta are sensitive to the thin-film layer structure, phase composition, and average grain c-axes orientations of the hexagonal phase. We deter mine the amount of cubic material in high cubic boron nitride content thin films from the infrared optical dielectric function using an effe ctive medium approach. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.