Effects of substrate rotation during AlSi-HiPIMS/Ti-DCMS co-sputtering growth of TiAlSiN coatings on phase content, microstructure, and mechanical properties

Surface and Coatings Technology, vol. 453, pp. 128986

Abstract

A combined high-power impulse and dc magnetron co-sputtering (HiPIMS/DCMS) technique is used to deposit Ti0.6Al0.32Si0.08N films with 1-fold substrate table rotation. Layers are grown at two different substrate-target separations, two different rotational speeds, and with different values of substrate bias. The aim is to study the role of (1) overlap between ion and neutral fluxes generated from HiPIMS and DCMS sources, respectively, and (2) the subplantation range of low-mass ions. Results from X-ray diffractometry highlight the necessity of flux intermixing in the formation of the metastable B1-structured TiAlSiN solid solutions. All films grown at short target-to-substrate distance contain the hexagonal AlN phase, as there is essentially no overlap between HiPIMS and DCMS fluxes, thus the Al+ and Si+ subplantation is very limited. Under conditions of high flux intermixing corresponding to larger target-to-substrate distance, no w-AlN forms irrespective of rotational speed (1 or 3 rpm) and bias amplitude (120 or 480 V), indicating that the role of Al+/Si+ and Ti flux overlap is crucial for the phase formation during film growth by HiPIMS/DCMS with substrate rotation. This conclusion is further supported by the fact that the reduction of the bilayer thickness with increasing the target-to-substrate distance (hence increasing flux overlap) is larger for films grown with higher amplitude of the substrate bias, indicative of more efficient Al+/Si+ subplantation into the c-TiN phase. Single-phase films with the hardness close to that of layers grown with stationary substrate table can be achieved, however, at the expense of higher compressive stress.

Authors 12

1. Tun-Wei Hsu corresponding

   Linköping University

   Affiliation as printed

   Nanostructured Materials Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden

2. Grzegorz Greczyński

   Linköping University

   Affiliation as printed

   Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden

3. Bjarke Holl Christensen

   Danish Technological Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Danish Technological Institute, Kongsvang Allé 29, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

4. Klaus Pagh Almtoft

   Danish Technological Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Danish Technological Institute, Kongsvang Allé 29, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

5. Robert D. Boyd

   Linköping University

   Affiliation as printed

   Nanostructured Materials Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden

6. S. Kolozsvári

   Plansee (Germany)

   Affiliation as printed

   Plansee Composite Materials GmbH, Lechbruck am See DE-86983, Germany

7. Peter Polcik

   Plansee (Germany)

   Affiliation as printed

   Plansee Composite Materials GmbH, Lechbruck am See DE-86983, Germany

8. Stephan Bolz Aachen CemeCon AG

   CemeCon (Germany)

   Affiliation as printed

   CemeCon AG, Adenauerstr. 20 A4, D-52146 Wűrselen, Germany

9. Werner Kölker Aachen CemeCon AG

   CemeCon (Germany)

   Affiliation as printed

   CemeCon AG, Adenauerstr. 20 A4, D-52146 Wűrselen, Germany

10. Christoph Schiffers Aachen CemeCon AG

    CemeCon (Germany)

    Affiliation as printed

    CemeCon AG, Adenauerstr. 20 A4, D-52146 Wűrselen, Germany

11. Biljana Mešić Aachen CemeCon AG

    CemeCon (Germany)

    Affiliation as printed

    CemeCon AG, Adenauerstr. 20 A4, D-52146 Wűrselen, Germany

12. Magnus Odén

    Linköping University

    Affiliation as printed

    Nanostructured Materials Division, Department of Physics (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden