Chemical bonding states and local structures of the oriented hexagonal BCN films synthesized by microwave plasma CVD

Mannan, M. A.; Noguchi, Hideyuki*; Kida, Tetsuya*; Nagano, Masamitsu*; Hirao, Norie; Baba, Yuji  

In order to synthesize oriented hexagonal boron carbonitride (h-BCN) films, borane-triethylamine complex was used as a single-source precursor. The films were deposited on Si(100) substrate by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition using CH+H as the carrier gas. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) confirmed the formation of hexagonal BCN phase in a short-range order. The chemical composition and the local structures of films were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopic measurements. The NEXAFS measurement suggested that the B atoms are bonded not only to the N atoms but also to the C atoms to form various local structures of sp B-C-N hybrid configurations. The polarization dependence of NEXAFS suggested that the local structures of the sp BCN layers have different atomic orientations to the substrate.