Plasma source ion nitriding has emerged as a low-temperature, low-pressure
nitriding approach for implanting nitrogen ions and then diffusing them int
o bulk materials. The ion-plating B-C films were nitrided to synthesize B-C
-N films at a nitriding temperature from 300 to 500 degrees C. The x-ray ph
otoelectron spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared
spectra analyses showed that the amorphous B-C-N films synthesized at 500
degrees C are composed mainly of cubic-BN-like and hexagonal-BN-like plain
microdomains. The higher nitriding temperature contributes to the formation
of cubic-BN-like B-C-N structure in the B-C-N films.