Oxygen plasma etching of carbon nano-structures containing nitrogen

Abstract In this paper we report a study of the oxygen plasma etching effect on CNx nano-structures grown on tiny nickel islands (∼1–5 nm) previously deposited onto oxidized silicon wafers. In order to eliminate the ill-formed structures, broad oxygen ion beam plasma was used to irradiate the nano-structured CNx material (∼3.4 at.% N). The structures were prepared by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) and etched in situ by an oxygen ion beam at room temperature. In situ characterization by XPS and ex situ Raman, FEG-SEM, AFM, and field emission measurements were employed to study the evolution of the nano-structures. Raman spectra show two narrow and well defined D and G bands (disorder and graphitic bands) in the formed nano-structure.