Experimental Observation of Cubic C3N4 Compound in Carbon Nitride Thin Films
Experimental Observation of Cubic C_3N_4 Compound in Carbon Nitride Thin Films

Cubic C3N4 compoundin the C-N thin films on Si and NaCl substrates was prepared by ion beamsputtering of a pure graphite target with discharge gas of pure N2. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that nitrogen atoms combinedwith sp2- and sp3- coordinated C atoms in the film, respectively. X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy were used to identify the cubic C3N4 phase. The results reconfirm the ab initio calculations on metastable structure in C-N compounds.