Electronic structure of hydrogenated carbon nitride films

Hydrogen-induced changes on the electronic and structural properties of amorphous carbon nitride (a-CNx:H) prepared by ion beam assisted deposition are investigated by x-ray photoelectron, ultraviolet photoelectron, infrared, and Raman spectroscopies. Two series of specimen are studied: films with a constant nitrogen content (C/N=26%) grown at 150 °C using different hydrogen partial pressures between 0% and 70% and samples deposited at different substrate temperatures (150–500 °C) with fixed H2 partial pressure of 60%. The pronounced changes of the N 1s and C 1s core level spectra on increasing hydrogen incorporation (up to 17 at. %) are interpreted as due to the formation of terminating NH and CH bonds accompanied by modifications of the local C–N bonding structure. Corresponding changes are observed in the He II valence band spectra showing a recession of the leading edge of more than 0.9 eV while the optical band gap widens from 0 to more than 1 eV. Consistent with these results, the information obtained from the infrared and Raman spectra suggests a hydrogen induced transformation of the disordered sp2/sp3 network into a polymerlike structure. With increasing substrate temperature a reversed process takes place. At 700 °C an increasing graphitization of the films is observed, but the effect of hydrogen on the structure influencing the growth kinetics is still present at this temperature. The nitrogen concentration (N/C) of about 30% indicates high thermal stability of the CN material.