Correlation between nitrogen incorporation and structural modification of hydrogenated carbon nitride films

Abstract The growth and microstructure of hydrogenated carbon nitride a-CN x :H (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.10) films deposited by PECVD have been studied. Upon the analysis of FTIR spectra, Raman spectra and XPS, it is concluded that π doping could take place even at a very low percentage of nitrogen, which favors the formation of sp 2 carbon clusters. The C 1s peak shifts toward higher binding energy while the N 1s peak remains constant as the nitrogen content in the film increases, which can be considered as a result of the chemical shifts on charge transfer due to the strong electronegativity of the N atom. 3D profile measurements show that there were a great number of particles formed when nitrogen is incorporated in to the films and the particles coalescence when the nitrogen content increases due to enhanced surface diffusion. The stress of the films converts from compressive to tensile stress gradually with increased N content. The elimination of grain boundaries and annihilation of excess vacancies, due to columnar structure increasing by diffusion leads to volume shrinkage of the film, thus causing tensile stress. These analyses were fairly consistent to help understand the effects of nitrogen in hydrogenated carbon films.