A brief overview of RF sputtering deposition of boron carbon nitride (BCN) thin films

A great part of interest has been paid for fabricating new materials with novel mechanical, optical, and electrical properties. Boron carbon nitride (BCN) ternary system was applied for variable bandgap semiconductors and systems with extreme hardness. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a brief historical overview of B4C and BN, to review recent research trends in the BCN synthesizes, and to summarize the fabrication of BCN thin films by plasma sputtering technique from B4C and BN targets in different gas atmospheres. Pre-set criteria are used to discuss the processing parameters affecting BCN performance which includes the gasses flow ratio and effect of temperature. Moreover, many characterization studies such as mechanical, etching, optical, photoluminescence, XPS, and corrosion studies of the RF sputtered BCN thin films are also covered. We further mentioned the application of BCN thin films to enhance the electrical properties of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) devices according to a previous report of Prakash et al. (Opt. Lett. 41, 4249, 2016).