Reactive magnetron sputter deposition of CNx films on Si(001) substrates : film growth, microstructure and mechanical properties

• There is currently considerable interest in producing new materials with extreme combinations of mechanical properties such as high hardnesses and moduli. One example of such a material is crystalline C3N4, which has been predicted to have a bulk modulus higher than that of diamond. In this paper we report on experiments carried out to synthesize CNx thin films. The films were grown in an unbalanced magnetron-sputtering system by reactive sputtering of C in N2 discharges. Si(001) substrates with the native oxide removed by thermal desorption and then kept at temperatures ranging from 150 to 600°C and substrate bias voltages Vs between 7.5 and -200 V were used. The films were analysed using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Auger electron spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering and nano-indentation tests. Typically the films were grown at rates of 5 nm s-1 to total thicknesses of 300 nm. Owing to an extensive re-sputtering, only low negative bias voltages (-80

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Oorganisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Inorganic Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

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