Pulsed laser deposition of hexagonal and cubic boron nitride films

Abstract. Hexagonal and cubic boron nitride films are deposited by pulsed laser ablation from a boron nitride and a boron target using a KrF excimer laser. Hexagonal films are deposited in nitrogen as background gas or with nitrogen/argon ion bombardment at ion-to-arriving-target-atom (I/A) ratios at the substrate below 0.5. Nucleation of the cubic phase takes place exclusively with ion bombardment at I/A ratios above 1.0, which may be reduced down to 0.6 after the completion of the nucleation process. The influence of the parameters of the laser and ion beams on the properties of the hexagonal films are presented. The Vickers microhardness and the intrinsic stress of those films vary in wide ranges of 5 to 25 GPa and 1 to 16 GPa, respectively. Pulsed laser deposited hexagonal boron nitride films show good adhesion to silicon and stainless steel if they are deposited at I/A ratios below 0.5, and can be used as intermediate layers for improving the adhesion of cubic boron nitride films. So far, 0.5 μm thick, nearly phase-pure cubic boron nitride films with good adhesion have been deposited. The microstructural, mechanical, and optical properties of those layer systems are presented and discussed.