Preparation of Hard Carbon Nitride Thin Films by Shielded Arc Ion Plating

The recent calculation suggested the existence of covalent type C-N compounds such as beta -C sub 3 N sub 4 and sphalerite type C sub 3 N sub 4 as super hardness materials and it has promoted investigations of carbon nitride thin films. The hard amorphous carbon nitride films was prepared by the modified shielded cathodic arc method and the relation between hardness and structure was investigated. Raman and XPS spectra were measured. It is considered that the preferential growth of a network of carbon with coordination number 4 by proper impact of ions should be the direct cause for hardening of films.