Stability to moisture of hexagonal boron nitride films deposited on silicon by RF magnetron sputtering

Abstract We deposited hBN films on silicon substrates by RF magnetron sputtering, and investigated the stability of the hBN films to the moisture. The hBN films including a large quantity of oxygen impurities were apt to be attacked by water vapor, and the hydrolytic process of the hBN films was studied by FTIR spectra. According to the analysis of FTIR, the main reason for the hydrolysis is the existence of boron oxides in hBN films, and the result of the hydrolysis is the formation of boric acid crystals. We sintered the hBN targets at high temperature in order to prevent oxygen from entering into the hBN films. Both FTIR and XPS results show that the hBN films have a good waterproof performance after our technology improvements because of the limit to oxygen impurity. Finally, pure and stable hBN films were obtained successfully.

[1]  W. Stickle,et al.  Handbook of X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy , 1992 .

[2]  Y. Zhang,et al.  Effects of deposition parameters on the structure and properties of RF sputtered boron nitride , 1993 .

[3]  W. Weltner,et al.  MATRIX ISOLATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE VAPORS: BORIC OXIDE AND CARBON. Technical Report No. C-12 , 1962 .

[4]  K. Ram,et al.  IR and Raman studies and effect of γ radiation on crystallization of some lead borate glasses containing Al2O3 , 1988 .

[5]  A. D'Amico,et al.  Preparation, properties and applications of boron nitride thin films , 1988 .

[6]  Kenji Watanabe,et al.  Deep Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Hexagonal Boron Nitride Synthesized at Atmospheric Pressure , 2007, Science.

[7]  M. S. Abrahams,et al.  Heat capacity and thermal conductivity of hexagonal pyrolytic boron nitride , 1976 .

[8]  C. J. B. Mott,et al.  Interaction of boric acid and borates with carbohydrates and related substances , 1980 .

[9]  T. Matsuda.  Stability to moisture for chemically vapour-deposited boron nitride , 1989 .

[10]  Jingyu Sun,et al.  Graphene/h‐BN Heterostructures: Recent Advances in Controllable Preparation and Functional Applications , 2016 .

[11]  T. Hirai,et al.  Synthesis and structure of chemically vapour-deposited boron nitride , 1986 .

[12]  D. Jiang,et al.  Triggering the atomic layers control of hexagonal boron nitride films , 2014 .

[13]  H. Estrade-szwarckopf.  XPS photoemission in carbonaceous materials: A “defect” peak beside the graphitic asymmetric peak , 2004 .

[14]  T. Ishii,et al.  Growth of single crystals of hexagonal boron nitride , 1983 .

[15]  Kenji Watanabe,et al.  Hexagonal Boron Nitride Single Crystal Growth at Atmospheric Pressure Using Ni-Cr Solvent , 2008 .

[16]  Takashi Taniguchi,et al.  Direct-bandgap properties and evidence for ultraviolet lasing of hexagonal boron nitride single crystal , 2004, Nature materials.

[17]  C. Lesniak,et al.  Boron nitride (BN) and BN composites for high-temperature applications , 2008 .

[18]  K. Shepard,et al.  Boron nitride substrates for high-quality graphene electronics. , 2010, Nature nanotechnology.

[19]  A. Lipp,et al.  Hexagonal boron nitride: Fabrication, properties and applications , 1989 .

[20]  C. H. Perry,et al.  Normal Modes in Hexagonal Boron Nitride , 1966 .

[21]  Hongxing Jiang,et al.  Hexagonal boron nitride for deep ultraviolet photonic devices , 2014 .

[22]  Aydin Babakhani,et al.  In-plane heterostructures of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride with controlled domain sizes. , 2013, Nature nanotechnology.

[23]  Yichao Zhang,et al.  Optimization of Ni–Cr flux growth for hexagonal boron nitride single crystals , 2014 .

[24]  Mengjia Yuan,et al.  Formation of boron nitride coatings on silicon carbide fibers using trimethylborate vapor , 2016 .

[25]  N. Manolova,et al.  Fullerene core star-like polymers—1. Preparation from fullerenes and monoazidopolyethers , 1998 .

[26]  Haitao Liu,et al.  Effect of precursor purity and flow rate on the CVD growth of hexagonal boron nitride , 2016 .

[27]  M. Rand,et al.  Preparation and Properties of Thin Film Boron Nitride , 1968 .