Study on the microstructures, electrical resistance and mechanical properties of sputtering chromium target by HP, HIP and canning–HIP processes

In recent years, pure chromium (Cr) targets have been commonly used in metal surface coating treatment and flat-panel displays. In the traditional production of a pure Cr-target, there is a greater use of casting methods; however, the metal ingot frequently suffers from ingredient segregation, porosity and non-uniform microstructure defects. Powder metallurgy (PM) is a good method for fabricating high melting materials with better microstructure and properties. This study produced Cr targets using hot pressing (HP), hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and canning–HIP of PM technology. The experimental results showed that the Cr targets made by HP–HIP can further improve the density and mechanical properties. The relative density increases from 98.8% to 99.3%. Canning–HIP of the Cr target, in particular, can provide smaller grain size (50 μm), lower porosity about 0.3%, and increased relative density to 99.7%, with a TRS of up to 58 MPa. The canning–HIP process also shows the optimal electrical resistivity (8.003 × 10− 5 Ω-cm), which suits for applications in the sputtering process.

► We use the sintered techniques to obtain high density and low porosity of Cr target.
► We focus on the PM process. It includes the HP, HIP and canning–HIP procedures.
► In this study, the canning–HIP process was the optimal procedure for Cr target.