Si Doped and Un-Doped CrN Thin Films Produced by Magnetron Sputtering: Structural and Mechanical Properties

2012 ◽  
Vol 18-19 ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Cunha ◽  
C. Moura

Chromium nitride and silicon doped chromium nitride thin films have been deposited by r.f. reactive magnetron sputtering. The effect of processing parameters on the properties of chromium nitride films and the correspondent influence of the addition of silicon on the chromium nitride matrix in the films structure and mechanical properties have been investigated. The characterization of the coatings was performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nano-indentation experiments. These studies allow analyzing the crystalline phases, crystal orientation/texture, crystallite size, mechanical properties and the relations between the characteristics of the films. The increase of the nitrogen partial pressure in the working atmosphere produces changes from a body-centered cubic (bcc) Cr structure, to hexagonal Cr2N to face-centered cubic (fcc) CrN structure, with CrN (111) preferred orientation. For the films with a dominant Cr2N phase the hardness has a relative maximum (42 GPa). The highest hardness was measured for a coating with dominant CrN phase (45 GPa) with a crystallite size around 18 nm. The addition of Si, in the films with CrN dominant phase, maintains the CrN (111) preferred orientation and produced variable changes in films hardness, depending on deposition conditions.

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (02) ◽  
pp. 1450015
Author(s):  
A. Kavitha ◽  
R. Kannan ◽  
S. Loganathan

Present work involves the preparation of Zirconium Nitride thin films on stainless steel (SS) (304L grade) substrate by reactive cylindrical magnetron sputtering method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) profile of the ZrN thin films prepared with different bias voltage conforms face centered cubic structure with preferred orientation along the (111) plane at lower bias voltage (100 V) and at higher bias voltage (300 V) the preferred orientation shifted to (220) plane. The influences of bias voltage on the thickness and microhardness ZrN thin films have been studied. ZrN thin film sputtered with 300 V bias voltage shows the maximum reflectance of 90% at a wavelength of 1000 nm. The coated substrates have been found to exhibit improved corrosion resistance compared to the SS plate. The root mean square surface roughness and surface morphology were investigated from 3D atomic force microscope (AFM) images and scanning electron microscope (SEM), which indicate smooth and uniform surface pattern without any pin holes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Tizazu Abza ◽  
Dereje Gelanu Dadi ◽  
Fekadu Gashaw Hone ◽  
Tesfaye Chebelew Meharu ◽  
Gebremeskel Tekle ◽  
...  

Cobalt sulfide thin films were synthesized from acidic chemical baths by varying the deposition time. The powder X-ray diffraction studies indicated that there are hexagonal CoS, face-centered cubic Co3S4, and cubic Co9S8 phases of cobalt sulfide. The crystallite size of the hexagonal CoS phase decreased from 52.8 nm to 22.5 nm and that of the cubic Co9S8 phase increased from 11 nm to 60 nm as the deposition time increased from 2 hrs to 3.5 hrs. The scanning electron microscopic images revealed crack and pinhole free thin films with uniform and smooth background and few large polygonal grains on the surface. The band gap of the cobalt sulfide thin films decreased from 1.75 eV to 1.3 eV as the deposition time increased from 2 hrs to 3.5 hrs. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the films confirmed the emission of ultraviolet, violet, and blue lights. The intense PL emission of violet light at 384 nm had red shifted with increasing deposition time that could be resulted from the increase in the average crystallite size. The FTIR spectra of the films indicated the presence of OH, C-O-H, C-O, double sulfide, and Co-S groups. As the deposition time increased, the electrical resistivity of the cobalt sulfide thin films decreased due to the increase in both the crystallite size and the films’ thickness.


2010 ◽  
Vol 97-101 ◽  
pp. 1360-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusrini Marita ◽  
Iskandar Idris Yaacob

Nickel-iron-silicon nitride nanocomposite thin films were prepared by electrodeposition technique. The deposition was performed at current density of 11.5 A dm-2. Nano-size silicon nitride was mixed in the electrolyte bath as dispersed phase. The effects of silicon nitride nanoparticulates in the nickel-iron nanocomposite thin films were investigated in relation to the amount of silicon nitride in the plating bath. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the deposited nickel iron film has face-centered cubic structure (FCC). However, a mixture of body-centered cubic (BCC) and face-centered cubic (FCC) phases were observed for nickel iron-silicon nitride nanocomposite films. The crystallite size of Ni-Fe nanocomposite coating decreased with increasing amount of silicon nitride in the film. From elemental mapping procedure, Si3N4 nanopaticles were uniformly distributed in the Ni-Fe film. The presence of silicon nitride increased the hardness of the film. The microhardness of the nickel-iron nanocomposite increased from 495 HV for nickel-iron film to 846 HV for nickel-iron nanocomposite film with 2 at. % Si. The coercivity of Ni-Fe nanaocomposite films increases with decreasing crystallite size.


Coatings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Chun Chang ◽  
Yu-Zhe Zheng ◽  
Yung-I Chen

Zr–Si–N films were fabricated through the co-deposition of high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS). The mechanical properties of the films fabricated using various nitrogen flow rates and radio-frequency powers were investigated. The HiPIMS/RFMS co-sputtered Zr–Si–N films were under-stoichiometric. These films with Si content of less than 9 at.%, and N content of less than 43 at.% displayed a face-centered cubic structure. The films’ hardness and Young’s modulus exhibited an evident relationship to their compressive residual stresses. The films with 2–6 at.% Si exhibited high hardness of 33–34 GPa and high Young’s moduli of 346–373 GPa, which was accompanied with compressive residual stresses from −4.4 to −5.0 GPa.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 690
Author(s):  
Li-Chun Chang ◽  
Cheng-En Wu ◽  
Tzu-Yu Ou

CrWN coatings were fabricated through a hybrid high-power impulse magnetron sputtering/radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique. The phase structures, mechanical properties, and tribological characteristics of CrWN coatings prepared with various nitrogen flow ratios (fN2s) were investigated. The results indicated that the CrWN coatings prepared at fN2 levels of 0.1 and 0.2 exhibited a Cr2N phase, whereas the coatings prepared at fN2 levels of 0.3 and 0.4 exhibited a CrN phase. These CrWN coatings exhibited hardness values of 16.7–20.2 GPa and Young’s modulus levels of 268–296 GPa, which indicated higher mechanical properties than those of coatings with similar residual stresses prepared through conventional direct current magnetron sputtering. Face-centered cubic (fcc) Cr51W2N47 coatings with a residual stress of −0.53 GPa exhibited the highest wear and scratch resistance. Furthermore, the diffusion barrier performance of fcc CrWN films on Cu metallization was explored, and they exhibited excellent barrier characteristics up to 650 °C.


Crystals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuemin Wang ◽  
Shuliang Dou ◽  
Lei Shang ◽  
Panpan Zhang ◽  
Xiangqiao Yan ◽  
...  

Photonic crystal (PC) thin films that are self-assembled from different-sized silica microspheres were prepared for studying mechanical properties via nanoindentation at the submicron scale. We found that the silica photonic crystals (PCs) possessed a face-centered cubic (FCC) microstructure and their elastic modulus and hardness were in the range of ~1.81–4.92 GPa and 0.008–0.033 GPa, respectively. The calculated results proved that there were size-dependent properties in the silica PCs, in that the elastic modulus and hardness increased as the diameter decreased from 538 nm to 326 nm. After studying the total work and plastic work in the progressive deformation of silica PCs during the nanoindentation tests, we developed a two-stage deformation model to explain how the microsphere size affects the mechanical properties of PC thin films. The phenomenon of “smaller is stronger” is mainly due to the energy consumption, which combines the effects of microstructure collapse, microsphere slide, and reduced porosity during the whole loading and unloading process. In addition, the results of numerical simulation matched the experimental data and reflected the energy change rules of PCs during the indentation process. Furthermore, the study affords useful guidance for constructing high-performance films with proper design and potential application in next-generation PC materials.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Sujung Son ◽  
Jongun Moon ◽  
Hyeonseok Kwon ◽  
Peyman Asghari Rad ◽  
Hidemi Kato ◽  
...  

New AlxCo50−xCu50−xMnx (x = 2.5, 10, and 15 atomic %, at%) immiscible medium-entropy alloys (IMMEAs) were designed based on the cobalt-copper binary system. Aluminum, a strong B2 phase former, was added to enhance yield strength and ultimate tensile strength, while manganese was added for additional solid solution strengthening. In this work, the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of the designed Al-Co-Cu-Mn system are examined. The alloys exhibit phase separation into dual face-centered cubic (FCC) phases due to the miscibility gap of the cobalt-copper binary system with the formation of CoAl-rich B2 phases. The hard B2 phases significantly contribute to the strength of the alloys, whereas the dual FCC phases contribute to elongation mitigating brittle fracture. Consequently, analysis of the Al-Co-Cu-Mn B2-strengthened IMMEAs suggest that the new alloy design methodology results in a good combination of strength and ductility.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4007
Author(s):  
Qimeng Zhang ◽  
Bo Cui ◽  
Bin Sun ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Zhizhong Dong ◽  
...  

The effects of rare earth element Sm on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and shape memory effect of the high temperature shape memory alloy, Cu-13.0Al-4.0Ni-xSm (x = 0, 0.2 and 0.5) (wt.%), are studied in this work. The results show that the Sm addition reduces the grain size of the Cu-13.0Al-4.0Ni alloy from millimeters to hundreds of microns. The microstructure of the Cu-13.0Al-4.0Ni-xSm alloys are composed of 18R and a face-centered cubic Sm-rich phase at room temperature. In addition, because the addition of the Sm element enhances the fine-grain strengthening effect, the mechanical properties and the shape memory effect of the Cu-13.0Al-4.0Ni alloy were greatly improved. When x = 0.5, the compressive fracture stress and the compressive fracture strain increased from 580 MPa, 10.5% to 1021 MPa, 14.8%, respectively. When the pre-strain is 10%, a reversible strain of 6.3% can be obtained for the Cu-13.0Al-4.0Ni-0.2Sm alloy.


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