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Structure and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline boron nitride thin films
Author(s) -
Ossi Paolo M.,
Miotello Antonio
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/aoc.167
Subject(s) - nanoindentation , nanocrystalline material , thin film , auger electron spectroscopy , raman spectroscopy , chemistry , boron nitride , substrate (aquarium) , analytical chemistry (journal) , sputter deposition , boron , nitride , crystallography , sputtering , materials science , composite material , nanotechnology , layer (electronics) , optics , physics , oceanography , organic chemistry , chromatography , geology , nuclear physics
Boron nitride thin films have been deposited on (100) Si wafers, kept at low temperature, by radio frequency (r.f.) magnetron sputtering. The r.f. target power was fixed at 150 W and the substrate bias voltage ranged between −50 and −130 V. Film composition was checked by Auger electron spectroscopy; the structure was investigated by Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, glancing‐angle X‐ray diffraction and micro‐Raman spectroscopy. Film hardness and Young's modulus were measured by nanoindentation. Film composition is nearly equiatomic, with a low degree of gaseous contamination. All samples are very fine grained, and nanocrystalline. Film coordination is mixed sp 2 – sp 3 , and the fraction of tetrahedral coordination depends critically on the bias voltage value. In hexagonal sp 2 ‐bonded films the hardnesses and Young's moduli are low and increase considerably with the content of sp 3 ‐coordinated cubic phase. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.