The structure study of thin boron and silicon carbonitride films by diffraction of synchrotron radiation

Crystalline structure and phase composition of thin boron and silicon carbo nitride films were investigated using diffraction of synchrotron radiation (SR). These films were synthesized by RPECVD using nontraditional volatile precursors. The diffraction measurements were performed at the station "Ano malous Scattering", existed at the second canal of colliding electron-posit ron beam accelerator VEPP-3 of the Siberian center of SR (Institute of Nucl ear Physics of SE RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia). The formation of polycrystalli ne novel phase not coinciding with known phases of boron carbide and boron nitride was observed in boron carbonitride films by diffraction experiments . The boron carbonitride films are not a mixture of boron carbide and boron nitride phases. We propose that these films are probably BCN phase. The X- ray diffraction and RHEED investigations revealed fine crystals of hexagona l Si3N4 phase in amorphous matrix of silicon carbonitride films. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.