Plasma depostion of BN, BCN:H and Me-BCN:H films using N-trimethylborazine (Me = Ti, Nb)

N-Trimethylborazine has been used as precursor to deposit BN, BCN:H and metal-containing BCN:H films by means of plasma CVD processes. Depending on the plasma process and the gas mixture, films with various element compositions and mechanical properties were obtained. Carbon-free BN coatings formed at substrate temperatures of about 600°C in an ECR plasma CVD process, if ammonia was fed through the resonance zone. With Ar, on the other hand, colourless hard BCN:H coatings were obtained at comparably low temperatures of 100 to 150°C. Brownish BCN:H plasma polymer films were deposited from rf glow discharges using N-trimethylborazine/Ar mixtures. The formation of metal-containing BCN:H films with refractory metal carbide or nitride clusters in a BCN-network was achieved by a combination of rf sputtering from Ti or Nb targets and plasma CVD from the precursor/Ar mixture. Results of EPMA, IR, nanometer indentation, XPS and X-ray diffraction measurements are reported