The effect of postdeposition annealing on chemical bonding in amorphous carbon nitride films prepared by dc magnetron sputtering

The effects of thermal annealing on the surface morphology, composition and chemical bond structure of amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN) films deposited by de magnetron sputtering are reported. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) res ults show that thermal annealing can gradually change the surface structure of the films from a cauliflower-like texture eventually to a uniform granu lar texture. Fourier transform infrared absorption (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have been used to characterise. the change of chemical bonding induced by annealing. By detailed analysis of bo th C Is and N Is photoelectron spectra, we have found that annealing can br eak the C-N bonds in the films and that the graphite-like C-N bonds are rel atively more stable with the increase of anneal temperature. (C) 2001 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.