Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:55:06.574Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Phase evolution in boron nitride thin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

D.J. Kester
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
K.S. Ailey
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
R.F. Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
K.L. More
Affiliation:
High Temperature Materials Laboratory, Mailstop 6064, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6064
Get access

Abstract

Boron nitride (BN) thin films were deposited on monocrystalline Si(100) wafers using electron beam evaporation of boron with simultaneous bombardment by nitrogen and argon ions. The effect of film thickness on the resultant BN phase was investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). These techniques revealed the consecutive deposition of an initial 20 Å thick layer of amorphous BN, 20–50 Å of hexagonal BN having a layered structure, and a final layer of the polycrystalline cubic phase. The growth sequence of the layers is believed to result primarily from increasing biaxial compressive stresses. Favorable surface and interface energy and crystallographic relationships may also assist in the nucleation of the cubic and the hexagonal phases, respectively. The presence of the amorphous and hexagonal regions explains why there have been no reports of the growth of 100% cubic boron nitride on Si.

Type
Rapid Communications
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Vel, L., Demazeau, G., and Etourneau, J., Mater. Sci. Eng. B10, 149 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Mishima, O., Era, K., Tanaka, J., and Yamaoka, S., Appl. Phys. Lett. 53, 962 (1988).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Inagawa, K., Watanabe, K., Ohsone, H., Saitoh, K., and Itoh, A., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A5, 2696 (1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Osaka, Y., Okamoto, M., and Utsumi, Y., in Low Energy Ion Beam and Plasma Modification of Materials, edited by Harper, J. M. E., Miyake, K., McNeil, J. R., and Gorbatkin, S. M. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 223, Pittsburgh, PA, 1991), p. 81.Google Scholar
5Tanabe, N., Hayashi, T., and Iwaki, M., Diamond Relat. Mater. 1, 151 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Saitoh, H., Hirose, T., Matsui, H., Hirotsu, Y., and Ichinose, Y., Surf. Coat. Technol. 39/40, 265 (1989).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Kern, W. and Puo-tinen, D. A., RCA Rev. 31, 187 (1970).Google Scholar
8Carter, C.H. Jr, Edmond, J.A., Palmour, J.W., Ryu, J., Kim, H.J., and Davis, R. F., in Microscopic Identification of Electronic Defects in Semiconductors, edited by Johnson, N. M., Bishop, S. G., and Watkins, G. D. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 46, Pittsburgh, PA, 1985), pp. 593598.Google Scholar
9Kester, D.J. and Messier, R., J. Appl. Phys. 72, 504 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10McKenzie, D.R. (private communication).Google Scholar
11McKenzie, D.R., McFall, W.D., Sainty, W.G., Davis, C.A., and Collins, R.E., Diamond Relat. Mater, (in press, 1993).Google Scholar
12Williams, B.E., Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University, 1992.Google Scholar
13Davis, R. F., Presentation at the 1991 Gordon Conference on Inorganic Thin Films.Google Scholar
14Angus, J. (private communication).Google Scholar
15Li, Z., Wang, L., Suzuki, T., Pirouz, P., and Angus, J. C., in press.Google Scholar