Effect of energy on macrostress in Ti(Al,V)N films prepared by magnetron sputtering

The article reports on the effect of the energy ℰ delivered into the growing film on its macrostress, microstructure, mechanical properties and resistance to cracking of Ti(Al,V)N films. The Ti(Al,V)N films were deposited on Si(111) and Mo substrates by magnetron sputtering in a mixture Ar + N2 gases using a dual magnetron with closed magnetic field and equipped with TiAlV (6 at.% Al, 4 at.% V) alloy targets. It is shown that the compressive macrostress σ in sputtered films can be reduced either by the pulsed bipolar bias voltage Usp with alternating negative and positive pulses or the electron and ion bombardment during overshoots in the pulsed magnetron sputtering. All sputtered films with high ratio H/E∗ ≥ 0.1, compressive macrostress (σ < 0), and non-columnar microstructure exhibit an enhanced resistance to cracking; here H is the hardness and E∗ is the effective Young's modulus. The high compressive macrostress in the film is not the necessary condition for the formation of the films with an enhanced resistance to cracking.