Photoconductivity and characterization of nitrogen incorporated hydrogenated amorphous carbon thin films

The observation and origin of photoconductivity in high base pressure (∼10−3 Torr) grown nitrogen incorporated hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H:N) thin films is reported. The magnitude of conductivity at room temperature was measured to increase by nearly two orders of magnitude and exhibits a maximum ratio of photoconductivity to dark conductivity of 1.5 as the nitrogen content increased to 15.1 at. %. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy reveal enhanced sp2 bonding at higher nitrogen contents. Residual film stress, Tauc band gap, hardness, and elastic modulus are all found to decrease with addition of nitrogen. The electrical characteristics suggest the creation of a-C:H:N/p-Si heterojunction diodes having rectifying behavior. The conductivity and electrical characteristics are discussed in term of band model, and the results show that high quality a-C:H:N films can be grown at high base pressures with properties comparable to those grown at low base pressures.