PREPARATION OF CNX FILMS BY ION-BEAM-ASSISTED FILTERED CATHODIC ARC DEPOSITION

Carbon nitride films were prepared by a combination of a filtered cath odic are and a Kaufman-type ion source. The energies and fluxes of the carbon and nitrogen ions and the substrate temperature were varied ov er a wide range. The films were characterised by Raman and IR spectros copy, XPS, ERDA, TEN and SAW. We found that the mms are amorphous with a maximum nitrogen content of 33 at%. Over a wide range of deposition conditions a material with 30 at% nitrogen and a density of 2 g cm(-3 ) was obtained. The mechanical properties and the XPS spectra further support the existence of a fairly well-defined amorphous phase. The Ra man spectra indicate a relaxation to a more graphitic structure by eit her an increased substrate temperature or an increased ion bombardment . (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.