Synthesis of boron carbonitride (BCN) films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using trimethylamine borane as a molecular precursor

Kida, Tetsuya*; Shigezumi, Kazuya*; Mannan, M. A.*; Akiyama, Morito*; Baba, Yuji; Nagano, Masamitsu*

Vacuum, 83(8), p.1143 - 1146, 2009/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2009.02.011

Boron carbonitride films were deposited on Si substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using a powdered precursor of trimethylamine borane. The effect of using different carrier gasses and microwave powers was investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed that the films have a nanofibrous structure with elongated features 20 nm in diameter and 200 nm in length. Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate chemical bonding states present in the deposited films. The FT-IR results suggested that the films have multiple chemical bonding states including C-N, B-N, and B-C bonds, as well as oxygen incorporation in the form of B-O bonds. Mixing the powdered precursor with molecular sieve was found to reduce the oxygen content in the films by removing surface adsorbed water from the precursor.

The Synthesis of B-C-N hybrid by ion beam deposition with aromatic molecules

Shimoyama, Iwao; Shigezumi, Kazuya*; Baba, Yuji; Sekiguchi, Tetsuhiro; Hirao, Norie*; Nagano, Masamitsu*

JAEA-Research 2006-021, 34 Pages, 2006/06

JAEA-Research-2006-021.pdf:1.47MB

Extreme low-energy ion beam deposition (IBD) method is devoted to synthesize boron carbon nitride (B-C-N) hybrid thin film. Several combinations of source gases, i.e., borazine (BNH), triazine (CNH), and benzene (CH), are used as precursor for the method in order to study the precursor effect. The characterization of the thin films is done by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The precursor effect is observed at three points, (1) composition ratio (2) bond formation and (3) layered structure. XPS spectra show the composition ratio basically reflects the element ratio of each precursor. The existence of various kinds of bonds is observed in the B, C, and N 1s photoelectron peaks of the films and the formation of the bonds depends on the combination of source gas. The mixture of borazine and benzene precursor derives C-C, C-N, B-C, and B-N bonds formation. On the other hand, other gases scarcely derive B-C bond formation. We propose that this is caused by a layered structure caused by the viscosity difference of the precursor molecules. Finally, we conclude that the mixture of borazine and benzene is the most preferable for B-C-N synthesis by the IBD method among the precursor gases.