Preparation and characterization of SiCN films

Silicon carbon nitride （SiCN） films were deposited on Si（100） substrates by radio-frequency （RF） sputtering method. High-resolution X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Infrared absorption spectroscopy （IR） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） were used to investigate the composition and bonding structures of the SiCN films. The analysis indicates that Si-C, Si-N and C-N bonds are formed in the SiCN films deposited at room temperature. The films deposited at high temperature （800℃） are found to consist of SiCN crystallites. Furthermore, Atomic force microscopy （AFM） was used to examine the surface morphology of the SiCN films. The field emission properties of the films were studied also. When the field is 24V/μm, the field emission current can reach 3.3mA/cm².