Cubic boron nitride thin films prepared by ion-beam assisted pulsed Nd:YAG laser deposition

Cubic boron nitride (cBN) thin films are synthesized on Si[100] substrates by a pulsed neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser deposition method using an ion beam in order to enhance the synthesis of the cBN phase. The deposited films were characterized by a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurement method. When argon mixed nitrogen gas was used, there are clear three absorption peaks for hBN at 1370 cm/sup -1/ and 800 cm/sup -1/, and the absorption for cBN at 1050 cm/sup -1/. With increasing ion beam current and ion beam voltage, the peaks for hBN decrease. However, the peak for cBN does not decrease. These results suggest that nitrogen and argon ion bombardment plays an important role in the formation of cBN films.