XPS STUDY OF BN THIN-FILMS DEPOSITED BY CVD ON SIC PLANE SUBSTRATES

BN films deposited from a BF3NH3 precursor, under chemical vapour infiltration conditions, on plane sintered α‐SiC substrates were analysed by XPS. The films are non‐stoichiometric with an N/B atomic ratio of <1. They also contain significant amounts of oxygen atoms, homogeneously distributed in the film and thought to replace partly the nitrogen atoms in the turbostratic hexagonal network. As a result, ternary BNxOy species are formed locally. Near the BN/SiC interface, the oxygen concentration increases owing to the occurrence of ternary SiNxOy species, thought to be the result of an oxinitriding reaction on the substrate surface with the gas phase containing residual oxygen, at the very beginning of the BN deposition process. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.