C N H Film Structure

The previously discussed XPS results, despite being obtained from films deposited from deposition methods other than usual plasma deposition, give valuable information on a-C(N) H film structure. Results reported in the works of Mansur and Ugolini [45] Souto and Alvarez [83] and Hammer, Victoria, and Alvarez [60] are in total accordance with the picture that emerges from IR results hydrogen bonds preferentially to nitrogen atoms, which are bonded mainly to sp -carbon atoms. 

Research on plasma-deposited a-C(N) H films has been frequently included in the general discussion of carbon nitride solids [2, 3]. However, the presence of hydrogen in its composition, and the complexity of the deposition process, which introduces the nitrogen species in the already intricate hydrocarbon plasma-deposition mechanism, make a-C(N) H films deserve special consideration. This is the aim of the present work to review and to discuss the main results on the growth, structure, and properties of plasma-deposited a-C(N) H films. As this subject is closely related to a-C H films, a summary of the main aspects relative to the plasma deposition of a-C H films, their structure, and the relationship between the main process parameters governing film structure and properties is presented... 

In Section 2.4, the main aspects of the nitrogen-induced structural changes are presented, by the discussion of the most important characterization techniques. This presentation is complemented by an overview of a-C(N) H structure. Finally, in Sections 2.5 and 2.6, respectively, results concerning the mechanical properties, and the electrical and optical properties of a-C(N) H films are presented. As long as possible, they will be correlated with the observed structure changes. 

In the following paragraphs, reports on XPS studies of a-C N H films are discussed. Most of the work that is discussed is not related to usual plasma deposition, but is related to ion-beam deposition, ion-beam assisted deposition, or other methods, because only a very few wide scope XPS studies on plasma-deposited a-C(N) H films were done up to this moment. Nevertheless, these results bring useful information on the role of hydrogen in the structure of a-C(N) H films. 

Similar processes for producing conducting polymeric films of benzene and its derivatives had been studied earlier [2-4], Necessary conditions for the successful realization of these processes are the use of a platinum electrode and a polar solvent in the presence of catalysts (Lewis acids) and thermostatting of the reactor at -75°C. A poly(para)phenylene polymerizate of the linear structure H-(-C6FLr)n-H with the degree of polymerization n, which varies between 3 and 16, is formed. Forced convection of monomeric molecules facilitates the polymerization reaction in the diffusion layer near the electrode and the formation of a dense film on the electrode surface and prevents the formation of poly(para)phenylene in the bulk. 

Gustafson J, Mikkelsen A, Borg M, Andersen JN, Lundgren E, Klein C, Hofer W, Schmid M, Varga P, Kohler L, Kresse G, Kasper N, Stierle A, Dosch H (2005) Structure of a thin oxide film on Rh(lOO). Phys Rev B 71 115442... 

Arias A. C., Corcoran N., Banach M., Friend R. H., MacKenzie J. D. and Huck W. T. S. (2002), Vertically segregated polymer-blend photovoltaic thin-film structures through surface-mediated solution processing , Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 1695-1697. 

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