AVS 46th International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Division Monday Sessions
       Session AS2-MoA

Paper AS2-MoA9
Phase Transformation of Cubic Boron Nitride Induced by Ion Bombardment

Monday, October 25, 1999, 4:40 pm, Room 6A

Session: Applied Surface Science for Microelectronics
Presenter: B. Zheng, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, P.R. China
Authors: B. Zheng, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, P.R. China
R.W.M. Kwok, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, P.R. China
M.Y.Y. Hui, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, P.R. China
W.M. Lau, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, P.R. China
Correspondent: Click to Email
The effects of argon ion bombardment on cubic boron nitride in the energy range of 50-1000eV were studied by electron energy loss spectroscopy with a field emission scanning Auger microscope (PHI 670), and by Auger and photoelectron emission. The microanalysis capability of the microscope allowed data collection from a (111) facet of a cubic boron nitride crystal, which largely increased the accuracy in the determination of the ion bombardment effects. Through monitoring the conversion of the electron energy loss features of cubic boron nitride to those of hexagonal boron nitride with an incident electron beam energy of 250eV, we determined the cubic to hexagonal phase transformation as a function of ion fluence and ion energy with a sub-monolayer sensitivity. We found that even at the low end of our bombardment energy range, the cubic to hexagonal phase transformation was still evident.