Growth of low stress cubic boron nitride films by simultaneous medium energy ion implantation

It is demonstrated that the intrinsic stress in cubic boron nitride films can be significantly relaxed during growth by simultaneous medium energy ion implantation. The stress in the growing film has been studied in-situ using cantilever curvature measurements and has been reduced to below 2 GPa by simultaneous Ar+ or N+ ion implantation with an energy of 70 keV and 35 keV, respectively. The resulting cubic boron nitride films show an increased long term stability. The results reveal that the stress in cBN is not reduced due to segregation of boron at grain boundaries.