Production and structural characterization of BN/TiN multilayers

A pulsed excimer laser was used to evaporate targets of boron nitride and titanium nitride in an attempt to produce hard thin films on crystalline silicon substrates. The films were either pure TiN or BN layers, as well as alternating multilayers and mixed layers. Deposition could be assisted by ion bombardment. The films were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and x-ray diffraction. A selection of films was also studied by profilometry in order to determine deposition rate and the type of stress present. The level of stress in TiN films was also a function of the deposition temperature and could be varied with the use of ion bombardment. Amorphous, cubic, and hexagonal BN films were produced and the effect of the stress of the substrate on these layers was investigated. Multilayers were stressed, having alternating layers of nanocrystalline TiN and amorphous BN. Mixtures consisted of nanometer-sized regions of crystalline TiN and sp(2) coordinated boron nitride. FTIR spectra and high-resolution transmission electron microscope pictures suggested that in the mixtures, boron nitride planes tended to parallel the surface of the TiN grains. No sign of stress-driven formation of cubic BN was observed in the multilayers nor in the nanosized mixtures, regardless of the stress level present in them; neither was there any sign of titanium borides or other structures that might increase the hardness of the films. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)05003-9].