Titanium interlayer to improve the adhesion of multilayer amorphous boron carbide coating on silicon substrate

Boron-based coatings can be very useful in neutrons detection application. Here, stable boron carbon (B-C) films in nanometer scale were deposited on silicon substrates with titanium interlayer by RF plasma magnetron sputtering. Ti interlayer is likely to decrease the internal stress at the substrate-film interface, thus smoothing the difference in lattice parameters between the growing film and substrate. The B-C/Ti/Si coatings were characterized using SEM, EDS, AFM and XRD. The enhancement in adhesion of the B-C film to the substrate was analyzed by a scratch tester measurements.

► Boron-based coatings can be very useful in neutrons detection application. ► B-based coatings with a multilayer structure do not present stress phenomena. ► Ti interlayer decreases the internal stress at the substrate-film interface, thus smoothing the difference in lattice parameters between the growing film and substrate.