Abstract
c-BN(cubic boron nitride) is known to have extremely high hardness next to diamond, as well as very high thermal and chemical stability. The c-BN in the form of film is useful for wear resistant coatings where the application of diamond film is restricted. However, there is less practical application because of difficult control of processing variables for synthesis of c-BN film as well as unclear mechanism on formation of c-BN. Therefore, in the present study, the structural characterization of c-BN thin film were investigated using $B_4C$ target in r.f. magnetron sputtering system as a function of processing variables. c-BN films were coated on Si(100) substrate using $B_4C$ (99.5% purity). The mixture of nitrogen and argon was used for carrier gas. The deposition processing conditions were changed with substrate bias voltage, substrate temperature and base pressure. Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to analyze crystal structures and chemical binding energy of the films. In the case of the BN film deposited at room temperature, c-BN was formed in the substrate bias voltage range of -400 V~ -600 V. Less c-BN fraction was observed as deposition temperature increased and more c-BN fraction was observed as base pressure increased.