Effect of bias voltage on microstructure and nanomechanical properties of Ti films

In order to investigate nanomechanical properties of nanostructured Ti metallic material, pure Ti films were prepared by magnetron sputtering at the bias voltage of 0-140 V. The microstructure of Ti films was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). It is interesting to find that the microstructure of pure Ti films was characterized by the composite structure of amorphous-like matrix embodied with nanocrystallines, and the crystallization was improved with the increase of bias voltage. The hardness of Ti films measured by nanoindentation tests shows a linear relationship with grain sizes in the scale of 6-15 nm. However, the pure Ti films exhibit a soft tendency characterized by a smaller slope of Hall-Petch relationship. In addition, the effect of bias voltage on the growth orientation of Ti films was discussed.