Structural and compositional study of B–C–N films produced by laser ablation of B C targets in N atmosphere

In this work, we report on a structural and compositional characterization of B–C–N thin films deposited by laser reactive ablation of a B4C target, in low-pressure 5 Pa.nitrogen atmosphere. For target ablation, a KrF excimer laser ls248 nm, ts20 ns.has been used, at the fluences of 6 and 12 Jrcm2. Films have been deposited on silicon 100: substrates at room temperature. Scanning electron miroscopy SEM., Auger electron spectroscopy AES., X-ray photo- electron spectroscopy XPS., time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry ToF-SIMS., and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy FT-IR.characterization techniques were used to analyze the composition and the structure of the deposited films. The film results to be a mixture of sp2rsp3 BN and sp2rsp3 nitrogenated C phases. The concentration of the different BN phases depends on the used laser fluence for the deposition of the film. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.