Preparation and characterisation of carbon nitride films deposited by pulsed laser arc deposition

Carbon nitride (CNx) films were prepared on silicon substrates by pulsed laser arc deposition with different working gases and various gas pressures. The bonding structure and the chemical compositions of the resulting CNx films were studied by AES, Raman spectroscope and XPS, respectively. The results showed that the average nitrogen content varied between 9% and 28%, and masses of sp² C?N bond and sp³ C?N bond formed in the CNx films. The nanohardness decreased from 30 GPa to 6 GPa, whereas the friction coefficient increased with increasing nitrogen content in the resulting CNx films.