Preparation and structure of nitrogen-substituted, highly oriented graphite thin film prepared by chemical vapor deposition

Highly-oriented, nitrogen-substituted graphite (C/N graphite) thin films were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using pyrrole as a starting material and palladium deposited single crystal sapphire as a substrate material whose temperature was kept at 1273K. The interlayer spacing of C/N graphite films, determined by x-ray diffraction, was close to that of single-crystal graphite. The orientation of crystalline of C/N graphite films, evaluated by rocking angle measurement, was higher compared with that of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. XPS and Raman spectroscopy were also measured for the characterization of these films.