Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1667356 Thin Solid Films 2012 4 Pages PDF
Abstract

VC/AlN nanomultilayers with various AlN layer thicknesses have been prepared by multi-target magnetron sputtering. Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of the multilayers have been investigated. Under the “template effect” of cubic VC, as-deposited amorphous AlN has been crystallized to cubic structure with AlN layer thickness < 1 nm, correspondingly the multilayers exhibit coherent growth and obtain significantly enhanced hardness with the maximum of 40.1 GPa. A further increase of AlN layer thickness causes the formation of amorphous AlN, which blocks the coherent growth of the multilayers, resulting in a rapid decline of hardness.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Materials Science Nanotechnology
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