Formation of carbon nitride compounds during successive implantations in copper

Copper substrates are successively implanted with carbon and nitrogen (¹³C⁺ and ¹⁴N⁺) at high fluences (5 × 10¹⁷ and 1 × 10¹⁷ at. cm⁻², respectively) in order to synthesize specific carbon nitride compounds. The concentration as well as the depth distribution of carbon ¹³C and nitrogen ¹⁴N are determined using non resonant nuclear reactions induced by a 1.05 MeV deuteron beam. The use of (d,p) and (d,α) reactions allows us to profile both ¹³C and ¹⁴N elements with a single and relatively rapid measurement and a quite good resolution. The bonded states of carbon and nitrogen are studied as a function of depth by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The curve fitting of the C 1s and N 1s photopeaks shows that carbon and nitrogen atoms exist in different chemical states depending on the analysis depth, which correspond to specific kinds of chemical bonds. At least two characteristic C–N bonds are detected indicating that different carbon nitride compounds have been formed during the implantations.