Deposition of carbon nitride films by reactive sub-picosecond pulsed laser ablation

We have ablated, for the first time, graphite in a nitrogen atmosphere at different pressures by using a sub-picosecond excimer laser (KrF, lambda = 248 nm, tau (L) = 0.5 ps). In this paper, we have discussed the deposited film properties using several diagnostic techniques (scanning electron microscopy, profilometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform, infrared and Raman spectroscopies) in terms of the different physical mechanisms involved in the reactive laser ablation process when the graphite target is ablated in a nitrogen atmosphere by lasers with different pulse duration. The deposition rate, the nitrogen concentration and the amount of the carbon bonded to nitrogen atoms were extremely reduced with respect to what was observed in the films deposited by nanosecond lasers. Moreover, the particulate and droplet density, one of the worst drawbacks of laser deposition technique, was not decreased. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.