GROWTH AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CARBON NITRIDE THIN-FILMS PREPARED BY ARC-PLASMA JET CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION

Abstract

Carbon nitride thin films have been successfully grown on nickel substrates by a novel are-plasma jet chemical vapor deposition. These films were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Small grains (similar to 0.1 mu m) as well as nanocrystallites found in the films were identified to be beta-C3N4. Raman spectroscopy also confirmed the existence of beta-C3N4 phase in the films through five pronounced Raman bands as expected from the Hooke's law approximation based on the vibrational frequencies obtained in analogous compound, beta-Si3N4. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.