Formation and infrared studies of boron-doped C60 Original Research Article

Boron-doped (B-doped) C60 thin films were synthesized by the radio frequency (RF) plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition. The samples were characterized primarily by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Besides the four characteristic modes of pristine C60 molecules, more infrared absorption peaks were observed in the FTIR spectra of the B-doped C60 films. These peaks are attributed to the B-doped C60, the plasma polymerized C60, respectively. The correlation of the structure of the B-doped C60 films to RF power and substrate position were also investigated. The results indicate that the higher energies and densities of the reactive radicals in the plasma are favorable for the formation of B-doped C60 or polymerized C60 molecules. Furthermore, we studied the annealing effects on the FTIR absorption properties of the samples.