Soft X-ray emission spectroscopy study of characteristic bonding states and its distribution of amorphous carbon-nitride (a-CNx) films

SXES analysis based on electron microscopy was applied for amorphous carbon nitride (a-CNx) films with different x. Carbon K-emission spectrum showed characteristic intensity distribution of not only sp2 bonding but also sp3 bonding. The amount of sp2 and sp3 depends on x. C-N bonding signal was also assigned. Abstract Soft X-ray emission spectroscopy based on electron microscopy was applied to investigate bonding electron states of amorphous carbon nitride (a-CNx) films with different nitrogen contents of x. Carbon K-emission spectrum showed characteristic intensity distribution of not only sp2 bonding but also sp3 bonding. The a-CNx film with lager x, which has a larger macroscopic electric resistivity, shows a larger content of the carbon sp3: C–C bonding signal. Furthermore, the dependence of spectral intensity distribution on x suggests the presence of sp2: C–N and sp3: C–N bonding. Those results show that the relation between macroscopic electrical resistivity of a-CNx film and its nitrogen content is because of the decrease of sp2: C–C bonding and the formation of sp2: C–N and sp3: C–C and C–N bonding conformation induced by an introduction of nitrogen atoms. Spatial variation of a signal ratio of sp3/sp2 was visualized and was confirmed as a relation between sp3 boding amount and nitrogen content x.