Beryllium nitride thin film grown by reactive laser ablation

Beryllium nitride thin films were grown on silicon substrates by laser ablating a beryllium foil in molecular nitrogen ambient. The composition and chemical state were determined with Auger (AES), X-Ray photoelectron (XPS) and energy loss (EELS) spectroscopies. A low absorption coefficient in the visible region, and an optical bandgap of 3.8 eV, determined by reflectance ellipsometry, were obtained for films grown at nitrogen pressures higher than 25 mTorr. The results show that the reaction of beryllium with nitrogen is very effective using this preparation method, producing high quality films.