Preparation of titanium carbon nitride films by reactive high power pulsed sputtering Penning discharges

The film hardness of 30 GPa and more and the elastic modulus of 200-240 GPa do not strongly depend on RTC at RTC less than 25%, beyond which they decrease to 15.8 GPa and 122 GPa. However, the value of the compressive stress and the friction coefficient gradually decrease with the increase in RTC. X-ray diffraction peak of (111) texture is observed for the films prepared at RTC less than 25%, showing the grain size of about 8-15 nm. On the other hand, the hardness and the value of the stress increase with the increase in the dissipated energy per pulse (Ep) at RTC less than 25%. Chemical compositions and bonding states of films are investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) - electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Based on XPS measurements, the relative content of C increases from 2.8 to 65% with the increase in RTC. On the other hand, the relative content of N is close to that of Ti and it decreases from 46 to 17%. The intensity of the peak related to Ti-N bond is largest among all intensities of the peaks related to the binary or ternary compounds including Ti component, whereas the intensity related to sp2 C-C bond increases with RTC. These intensity ratios depend on RTC, but they are not sensitive to Ep.