Electronic properties of amorphous carbon nitride a-C1−xNx:H films investigated using vibrational and ESR characterisations

A combination of ESR and Raman spectroscopy measurements is applied to fully characterize a-C1-xNx:H films (x less than or equal to 20 at.%) grown by plasma decomposition of C2H2-N2 mixtures. The observed decrease in the spin density (8.5x1019-1.6x1019 cm-3) when the N content increases is consistent with the decrease in the disorder of the sp2 nanostructure evidenced by resonant Raman spectroscopy (at 488 and 514.5 nm excitations), which shows an increase in the ID/IG ratio and a narrowing of the D-peak. 21 refs.