Impact of pulse duration in high power impulse magnetron sputtering on the low-temperature growth of wurtzite phase (Ti,Al)N films with high hardness

• Low temperature synthesis of AlN rich wurtzite phase (Ti,Al)N film was demonstrated.
• 1 μm-thick TiAlN film was deposited under the temperature less than 150 °C by HIPIMS.
• High Al content with highly (0002) textured wurtzite phase structure was obtained.
• High hardness of 35 GPa were shown, even the film has the AlN rich wurtzite phase.
• Shorter pulse duration induced the dense, large grained, highly textured thin films.

(Ti,Al)N films were deposited from a Ti0.33Al0.67 alloy target with a high Al content at a substrate temperature of less than 150 °C using high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) plasma. The pulse duration was varied from 60 to 300 μs with a low frequency of 333 Hz to investigate the effects on the dynamic variation of the substrate temperature, microstructural grain growth and the resulting mechanical properties. The chemical composition, surface morphology and phase composition of the films were analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. Mechanical properties were additionally measured by using a nanoindentation tester. A shorter pulse duration resulted in a lower rate of increase in the substrate temperature with an exponentially higher peak target current. The obtained films had a high Al content of 70–73 at.% with a mixed highly (0002) textured wurtzite phase and a secondary phase of cubic (220) grains. Even with the wurtzite phase and the relatively high Al contents of more than 70 at.%, the films exhibited a high hardness of more than 30 GPa with a relatively smooth surface of less than 2 nm root-mean-square roughness. The hardest and smoothest surfaces were obtained for pulses with an intermediate duration of 150 μs. The differences between the obtained film properties under different pulse durations are discussed on the basis of the grain growth process observed by transmission electron microscopy. The feasibility of the low-temperature synthesis of AlN rich wurtzite phase (Ti,Al)N films with superior hardness by HIPIMS plasma duration was demonstrated.