Amorphous carbon nitride film preparation by plasma-assisted pulsed laser deposition method

Amorphous carbon nitride (aCN(x)) films were prepared by pulsed laser ablation of graphite in N-2 RF plasma. The film property was compared with that prepared in N-2 gas. The N-2 plasma was generated by a mesh electrode, which was inserted between a graphite target and a Si substrate. The gas pressure p(N2) was varied from 10 to 100 mTorr. The film deposition rate exponentially decreased with p(N2) for both the plasma and gas environment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the ratio of nitrogen content to the carbon one ([N]/[C]) of the aCN(x) film surface deposited in the N-2 plasma was similar to2 times higher than that obtained in the N-2 gas. The film structure was shown by Raman spectroscopy analysis that sp(2) clustering was enhanced with increasing the [N]/[C]. The effect of plasma on aCN(x) film deposition was discussed.