Synthesis of amorphous carbon nitride by single and multiple charged nitrogen ion bombardment of fullerene thin films

The formation of amorphous carbon nitride under bombardment of fullerene thin films by single and multiple charged nitrogen ions is presented in this paper. The characterization of a new amorphous carbon nitride phase was performed by Raman, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, low angle x-ray diffraction and UV/Vis spectrophotometry. The structural modification in fullerene films after bombardment by single and multiple charged nitrogen ions has been examined by atomic force microscopy. It was found that the surface ordering has been changed significantly depending on the charge of the used ions. The optical band gap was found to be varied from 1.7 to 1.3 eV for bombarded films by N5+ ions and 1.4 eV for irradiated films by N+ ions