X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Raman Spectroscopy Studies on Thin Carbon Nitride Films Deposited by Reactive RF Magnetron Sputtering

Masao Matsuoka, Sadao Isotani, Ronaldo D. Mansano, Wilmer Sucasaire, Ricardo A. C. Pinto, Juan C. R. Mittani, Kiyoshi Ogata, Naoto Kuratani

Institute of Physics, University of S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo, Brazil.
MEMS Development Department, Semiconductor Division, OMRON Corporation, Shiga, Japan.
Nissin Electric Company, Ltd., Kyoto, Japan.
Polytechnical School, University of S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/wjnse.2012.22012                

Abstract

Thin carbon nitride (CN_x) films were synthesized on silicon substrates by reactive RF magnetron sputtering of a graphite target in mixed N₂/Ar discharges and the N₂ gas fraction in the discharge gas, F _N, varied from 0.5 to 1.0. The atomic bonding configuration and chemical composition in the CN_x films were examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the degree of structural disorder was studied using Raman spectroscopy. An increase in the nitrogen content in the film from 19 to 26 at% was observed at F_N = 0.8 and found to influence the film properties; normality tests suggested that the data obtained at F_N = 0.8 are not experimental errors. The interpretation of XPS spectra might not be always straightforward and hence the detailed and quantitative comparison of the XPS data with the information acquired by Raman spectroscopy enabled us to interpret the decomposed peaks in the N 1s and C 1s XPS spectra. Two N 1s XPS peaks at 398.3 and 399.8 eV (peaks N₁ and N₂, respectively) were assigned to a sum of pyridine-like nitrogen and -C≡N bond, and to a sum of pyrrole-like nitrogen and threefold nitrogen, respectively. Further, the peaks N₁ and N₂ were found to correlate with C 1s XPS peaks at 288.2 and 286.3 eV, respectively; the peak at 288.2 eV might include a contribution of sp³ carbon.

Keywords

Carbon Nitride; Magnetron Sputtering; X-Ray Photoelectron; Raman Scattering

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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