Amorphous thin films were bombarded with 100keV N ions. Infra-red absorption spectroscopy was used to study the effect, of increasing the dose to 5 x 1017/cm2, upon the chemical bonding between Si, C, and N. The effect of thermal annealing, at temperatures of up to 973K, upon the stability of a bombardment-induced SiCxNy phase was investigated, together with the effect of surface oxidation during post-anneal cooling. It was found that the new phase was thermally stable within the temperature range that was investigated. At the highest implantation dose, a threshold was reached above which the N atoms were interstitial, or were weakly bound in the host film. Annealing at sufficiently high temperatures produced migration towards the surface, and the subsequent loss of interstitial N.

R.Capelletti, A.Miotello, P.M.Ossi: Journal of Applied Physics, 1997, 81[1], 146-9