In this work, thin films of SiCN have been deposited by pulsed laser d
eposition on silicon substrates by KrF (248 nm) excimer laser ablation
of a SIC sintered target in a vacuum system at room temperature. To o
btain various stoichiometries, molecular nitrogen is introduced in the
deposition chamber in the 5 to 500 mTorr pressure range. The resultan
t SiCxNy films are compared to the one prepared in a high vacuum envir
onment (no N-2 gas). The film growth was monitored by real-time kineti
c ellipsometry at a single photon-energy (2.5 eV). The film was analyz
ed by spectro-ellipsometry in the photon-energy range of 1.5 < hv < 5.
0 eV at the end of the deposition process. Tauc's plots are used to es
timate the optical band-gap of the films as a function of the N-2 gas
pressure. High resolution in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy cha
racterization was performed on every film. The bonding character of th
e elements in the films is obtained by deconvoluting the XPS peaks. Th
e ellipsometric and XPS results suggest that a new phase alloy is pres
ent in the SiCxNy films. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.