Non-isothermal kinetics of phase transformations in magnetron sputtered alumina films with metastable structure

• Non-isothermal kinetics of phase transformations in alumina films was investigated.
• The structure of alumina films affects kinetics of the transformation processes.
• Kinetic triplets of all transformation processes were determined.
• The KAS, FWO, FR and IKP methods for determination of Ea and A were used.
• The Málek method for determination of the kinetic model was used.

The paper reports on non-isothermal kinetics of transformation processes in magnetron sputtered alumina thin films with an amorphous and γ-phase structure leading ultimately to the formation of the thermodynamically stable α-Al2O3 phase. Phase transformation sequences in the alumina films were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at four different heating rates (10, 20, 30, 40 °C/min). Three isoconversional methods (Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) and Friedman (FR) method) as well as the invariant kinetic parameters (IKP) method were used to determine the activation energies for transformation processes. Moreover, the pre-exponential factors were determined using the IKP method. The kinetic models of the transformation processes were determined using the Málek method. It was found that the as-deposited structure of alumina films affects kinetics of the transformation processes. The film with the amorphous as-deposited structure heated at 40 °C/min transforms to the crystalline γ phase at a temperature of ∼930 °C (Ea,IKP = 463 ± 10 kJ/mol) and subsequently to the crystalline α phase at a temperature of ∼1200 °C (Ea,IKP = 589 ± 10 kJ/mol). The film with the crystalline γ-phase structure heated at 40 °C/min is thermally stable up to ∼1100 °C and transforms to the crystalline α phase (Ea,IKP = 511 ± 16 kJ/mol) at a temperature of ∼1195 °C. The empirical two-parameter Šesták–Berggren kinetic model was found to be the most adequate one to describe all transformation processes in magnetron sputtered alumina films.