Mechanism of nucleation and growth of cubic boron nitride thin films |
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Authors: | D. V. Shtansky Y. Yamada-Takamura T. Yoshida Y. Ikuhara |
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Affiliation: | a Department of Materials Engineering, Graduate School and Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan;b Engineering Research Institute, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan |
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Abstract: | The mechanism and the crystallography of the nucleation and growth of cubic boron nitride (c-BN) films deposited on 100 -oriented silicon substrate by RF bias sputtering have been studied by means of cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Both methods provide experimental information showing no sp2-bonded BN layer formation in the subsurface region of c-BN phase. This is clear evidence for layer-by-layer homoepitaxial growth of cubic boron nitride without graphitic monolayers in the near-surface region of the film. The turbostratic boron nitride (t-BN) consists of thin sub-layers, 0.5–2 nm thick, growing in such a way that a sub-layer normal is almost parallel to the growth direction. t-BN also comprises a large volume fraction of the grain boundaries with high interface energies. The present result and the finding by Shtansky et al. [Acta Mater. 48, 3745 (2000)], who showed that an individual sub-layer consists of parallel lamellae in both the hexagonal (h-BN) and rhombohedral (r-BN) configurations, demonstrate that high intrinsic stress in the films is due to the complex structure of sp2-bonded BN. The crystallography of c-BN films indicates heteroepitaxial nucleation of cubic phase on the graphitic BN structural precursor. The present results are consistent with stress-induced c-BN formation. |
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Keywords: | Cubic boron nitride films Turbostratic boron nitride Growth models |
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