Electron cyclotron resonance plasma assisted pulsed laser deposition of carbon nitride thin films

We have prepared carbon nitride thin films by using plasma assisted pulsed laser deposition. In this method, a graphite target was ablated by laser pulses in the environment of a nitrogen plasma generated from electron Cyclotron resonance microwave discharge in pure nitrogen gas, while the growing film was simultaneously bombarded by the plasma stream. The deposited films were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Raman Spectroscopy. Films consisting purely of carbon and nitrogen with nitrogen content over at.50 % were obtained on Si (100) substrates at low deposition temperatures (< 80 degreesC). N atoms in the as-prepared films were found to be bound to C atoms through hybridized sp(2) and sp(3) configurations. A strong influence of substrate bias voltage on the composition and bonding configuration in the films as well as on the deposition rate was observed.