Ionized magnetron sputter deposition of hard nanocomposite TiN/amorphous-silicon nitride films

Abstract

The deposition of Ti-Si-N films using separate Ti and Si targets in an Ar/N2 gas mixture was analyzed using ionized magnetron sputter deposition (IMSD). The effects of different operational parameters on film structure and mechanical properties were investigated using deposition under various conditions. X-ray diffraction was used to characterize crystallography, grain size and film texture such that addition of Si to TiN transformed (111)-oriented structure. The results show that hardness of films increased to as much as twice that of pure TiN films using nanoidentation.