X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of carbon nitride films deposited by graphite laser ablation in a nitrogen postdischarge

Carbon nitride thin films have been deposited on silicon substrates, using a newly developed surface wave discharge/pulsed laser deposition system. Nitrogen incorporation in the films is examined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It shows that interaction between the laser ablated carbon species and nitrogen atoms from the surface-wave N2 plasma enhances the incorporation of N in the carbon nitride layers, for example, up to 19% at a deposition pressure of 2 mTorr. Increasing the deposition temperature decreases nitrogen incorporation and changes the local chemical environment of nitrogen atoms.