The Effect Of Vacuum Annealing On The Structure And Properties Of The Electrically Conductive A-Cn Coating

Electrically conductive amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN) coatings were deposited onto various substrates by pulsed vacuum-arc sputtering of a graphite cathode with simultaneous irradiation of the substrate with nitrogen ions. Deposition temperature was less than 60 degrees C. We investigated the effect of vacuum annealing at a temperature of 600 degrees C on the elemental composition, structure, electrical and optical properties of the obtained films. It was found that the elemental composition of the coating practically does not change over the thickness of the coating after annealing, while the remaining characteristics change significantly. Of particular interest is the correlation between the change in the nanostructure of the coating and the electrical properties of the coating. An explanation of the mechanisms for changing the properties of the coating after annealing is proposed.