Growth, characterization, and properties of carbon nitride with and without silicon addition

Carbon nitride and silicon carbon nitride have been grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition, electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma chemical vapor deposition, magnetron sputtering and ion beam sputtering. Depending on the specific process details, a wide range of microstructure and morphologies has been demonstrated. Effects of Si addition to CN network on the structure of the deposited materials were studied. While Si involvement in CVD process was crucial for crystal growth, excessive Si incorporation led to formation of amorphous phase in PVD process. Various optical constants including the band gap and refractive index of the SiCN phases are also reported.