Cubic boron nitride films prepared with different deposition times

Since the physicochemical properties of cubic BN (c-BN) makes it a very useful material for various industrial and technological applications, cubic boron nitride films have aroused much attention in recent years. In this paper, c-BN films have been prepared by tuned substrate rf magnetron sputtering with different deposition time, which correspond to different growth stages of the BN films. Fourier Transform Infrared Absorption spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) have been used to characterize the films. We have found a change of composition and microstructure of the films with different deposition times. AFM images of thicker films showed that there are two BN layers on the substrate and nucleation lines were observed on the lower BN layer of the film. We believe that the thickness difference between the edge and the center of the c-BN sheets of the film, which was also observed in the AFM profile, gives some information about the growth mechanism of c-BN films.