The experimental difficulties encountered in attempting to synthesize super hard high purity polycrystalline or single crystal beta carbon nitride (β-C3N4) films has prompted research on the synthesis of hard silicon carbon nitride (SiCN) films(1). Current research interest in SiCN is motivated by several reported desirable properties of this material(2). Among those properties are short bond length, high bond strength and therefore high hardness, adjustable friction coefficient, high resistance to wear and corrosion and wide band gap.

The work reported on here is a continuation of our earlier research (3) on the deposition and characterization of near stoichiometric SiCN films deposited at ambient temperature from a gas mixture (SiH4, CH4, N2) and using RF-PECVD. In this work, we report on the hardness and characterization of surface topography by roughness measurements and SEM photographs of SiCN films deposited at 500 °C on silicon wafer substrates using RF-PECVD. These measurements are important in applications involving friction, lubrication and wear(4).

1. J. C. Sung, New Diamond and Carbon Technology 12 (2002) 47.

2. Fei Zhou, Bin Yue, Xiaolei Wang and Lanjian Zhuge, Journal of Alloys and Compounds 492 (2010) 269-276.

3. T. Wydeven and T. Kawabe, Deposition and characterization of silicon carbon nitride films prepared by RF-PECVD with capacitive coupling, Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry, Bochum, Germany, July 26th-31st, 2009.

4. T.R. Thomas, Rough Surfaces, 2nd ed., Imperial College Press, London (1999).