Pulsed laser deposition of a-CNx : H films: the role of target-to-substrate distance and laser fluence

The effect of the mean free path of the ablated species to the target-to-su bstrate distance ratio on chemical composition and growth rate of carbon ni tride films is reported. The composition of the films deposited at room tem perature by ablating a glassy carbon target with an ArF excimer laser(193 n m) in 0.3 Torr ammonia was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectro scopy. At fixed pulse energy, the nitrogen content of the films decreases w hile the hydrogen content remains practically constant with increasing targ et-to-substrate distance. When the deposition geometry is fixed, increasing pulse energy results in an increase in the nitrogen content. (C) 2000 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.