Electron field emission of radio frequency magnetron sputtered CNx films annealed at different temperatures

The carbon nitride films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering in a pure N2 discharge were annealed in vacuum up to 900 °C. The chemical composition and bonding structure of the films were studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that the nitrogen atoms were bound to sp, sp2, and sp3 hybridized carbon atoms in as-deposited films. The effects of the thermal annealing on bonding structure and the electron field emission characteristics of CNx films were investigated. The results showed that thermal annealing treatment caused a great loss of N content and favor formation of sp2 bonds in CNx films, which would significantly influence the field emission properties for the CNx films. The CNx films annealed at temperature of 750 °C showed the optimal electron emission properties. Besides, the correlation between the chemical bonding structures and electron emission properties for the CNx films was discussed.