Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8028917 | Surface and Coatings Technology | 2013 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
The effect of nitrogen partial pressure (pN2) on structural, composition, deposition rate and mechanical properties of Zirconium Tungsten Nitride (ZrxW1 â xNy) thin films have been studied. ZrxW1 â xNy thin films have been deposited on silicon (100) substrates by DC/RF reactive magnetron sputtering. Structure and elemental composition of the deposited ZrxW1 â xNy thin films strongly depend on pN2. XRD analysis shows that for 0.07 Pa â¤Â pN2 â¤Â 0.17 Pa, ZrxW1 â xNy films exhibit single (fcc) phase, for 0.20 Pa â¤Â pN2 â¤Â 0.27 Pa, an amorphous phase is obtained and for 0.33 Pa â¤Â pN2 â¤Â 0.67 Pa reflections corresponding to dual (fcc + hcp) phase have been observed. The phase formation has been confirmed by TEM diffraction patterns. The root mean square roughness of the films varies non-monotonically with increasing pN2. The thickness of the films decreases continuously with increasing pN2. Results of nano-indentation analysis confirm moderate hardness, high wear resistance, high resistance to fatigue fracture and high adhesiveness of ZrxW1 â xNy films. Among all the phases, maximum hardness (~ 24 GPa) and maximum reduced elastic modulus (135 GPa) have been obtained for dual phase (fcc + hcp) film while resistance to fatigue fracture (H3/Er2 ~ 0.87 GPa), wear resistance (H/Er ~ 0.2) and ductility for single phase (fcc) film were found to be maximum. No crack was observed to propagate in the films at a high load of 50 mN. All the films were found to exhibit high adhesion with the substrate surface.
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Physical Sciences and Engineering
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Authors
P. Dubey, V. Arya, S. Srivastava, D. Singh, R. Chandra,