In situ stress analysis of boron nitride films prepared by ion beam assisted deposition

Boron nitride films have been deposited on Si (0 0 1) substrates by N/Ar ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) and the evolution of the intrinsic stress has been in situ measured by a very sensitive capacitiv technique. After about ten monolayers the growing boron nitride film seems to be closed and the tensile stress at the beginning of the experiment turns to compressive stress. With increasing energy of the nitrogen and argon ions and the temperature of the substrate during deposition the final stress and the content of c-BN are increased. In situ measurements of the evolution of the intrinsic stress show a strong difference between mainly h-BN and mainly c-BN films due to the implantation induced defect concentration and the plastic deformation in the film. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.