CHARACTERIZATION OF CARBON NITRIDE FILMS GROWN USING AN INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA WITH ADAMANTANE AS THE SOURCE HYDROCARBON

The films addressed here were grown using adamantane (C10H16) vapour i n flowing argon/nitrogen mixtures in an inductively-coupled plasma pro cessing (ICP) vacuum rig. The films were characterized by XPS, AES, in frared spectroscopy (Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) in transmission ) and atomic force microscopy. The x-ray photoelectron data showed typ ically high nitrogen contents, and deconvolution of the observed C 1s band confirmed the presence of the chemical states identified by FTIR. Further XPS-quantified data established the changes observed in the r elative carbon and nitrogen concentrations as a function of deposition regime. Evidence of a structural transformation in the films over tim e was established from the FTIR spectra, which exhibited significant c hanges in the relative intensities of the C=N, C=N/C=C, NH and CH band s identified attendant on the deposition parameters. Analysis by AES r evealed additionally an increasing carbon/nitrogen ratio, suggesting t he transformation of sp(3) to sp(3) carbon was taking place in the fil m, with some nitrogen lost from the films during data acquisition Thes e data indicated clearly that the electron beam-stimulating production of the Auger spectra contributed to the transformation of the chemica l states present initially. Finally, atomic force microscopy of the su rfaces showed that the surface morphology of the film changes during A uger analysis. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.