Growth and characterization of carbon nitride thin films prepared by arc-plasma jet chemical vapor deposition

Carbon nitride thin films have been successfully grown on nickel substrates by a novel arc-plasma jet chemical vapor deposition. These films were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Small grains (∼0.1 μm) as well as nanocrystallites found in the films were identified to be β-C3N4. Raman spectroscopy also confirmed the existence of β-C3N4 phase in the films through five pronounced Raman bands as expected from the Hooke’s law approximation based on the vibrational frequencies obtained in analogous compound, β-Si3N4.