Identification of ternary boron–carbon–nitrogen hexagonal phases by x-ray absorption spectroscopy

Boron carbon nitride ~BCN! films have been grown by B4C evaporation with concurrent N2 1 ion assistance, and have been characterized by x-ray absorption near edge ~XANES! spectroscopy. Upon the nitrogen insertion, the film structure evolves from BxC-like to h-BN-like. The hexagonal structure corresponds to a true ternary BCN compound that can be understood as h-BN with carbon incorporated in substitutional sites. The C~1s)XANES presents p* states characteristic of the BCN arrangement. The basal planes of the h-BCN phase are oriented perpendicular to the substrate, as derived from the angle dependence of the XANES signal. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1376428#