Synthesis and characterization of carbon nitride thin films obtained by laser induced chemical vapour deposition

Carbon nitride thin films (CNx) were produced by UV laser (ArF, λ=193 nm) induced chemical vapour deposition from C2H2/NH3 mixtures, on Si and TiN/Si substrates. The surface and bulk composition of the deposited layers were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA), respectively. Nitrogen was found to be singly and doubly bonded to carbon, as revealed by FTIR spectrometry. Specific morphology of the films was evidenced by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), while selected area electron diffraction (SAED) confirms the presence of nano-crystallites in the layers. The calculated d-lattice spacings fit rather well with theoretical and experimental data for α- and β-C3N4.