Effect of target materials on crystalline carbon nitride film preparation by ion beam sputtering

In order to provide abundant chemical information, two novel bio-molecular target materials, instead of the conventional graphite target, were successfully developed to determine the possible formation mechanisms of carbon nitride during ion beam deposition. The azaadenine and adenine targets consist of carbonitro bonding, high N/C ratio as well as a six-fold carbonitro ring structure similar to that in hypothetical C₃N₄. Mass spectroscopy was used to determine the possible mechanisms of these two target materials. A lower electron beam energy at 75 eV was adopted to generate as abundant fragmental ions during the decomposition of these targets. Mass spectroscopy study on these two different targets indicates that the adenine target exhibits a more complex decomposition mechanism than the azaadenine target. However, the seven common hydrogenated carbonitro-species may suggest the same predominant mechanism during the decomposition of these two targets under the present deposition condition. The good correlation is one reason why two different targets can make almost the same quality crystalline carbon nitride films, including bonding, composition and structure.