Structural and micro-mechanical studies of CNx films deposited on silicon substrates in a remote nitrogen plasma

Abstract This article reports on the synthesis of carbon nitride CN x films on a non-heated substrate. The carbon nitride films are deposited using pulsed CO 2 laser ablation of carbon molecular fragments from a graphite target under nitrogen plasma afterglow. Characterizations of carbon nitride films by Raman, XPS, FT-IR spectroscopy and micro-mechanical testing techniques are presented. XPS analyses clearly demonstrate that the film structure consists of carbon fragments in a graphitic form and in CN bonding in sp 2 trigonal and sp 3 tetrahedral forms. It also shows that higher N/C ratios with a higher CN sp 3 concentration are obtained when the distance between the discharge and the deposition zone ( d ) decreases. The aim of this work is to determine whether there is a relationship between the reactive nitrogen plasma afterglow species and film structure.