Time resolved measurement of film growth during reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) of titanium nitride

The growth rate during reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) of titanium nitride is measured with a temporal resolution of up to 25 us using a rotating shutter concept. According to that concept a 200 um slit is rotated in front of the substrate synchronous with the HIPIMS pulses. Thereby, the growth flux is laterally distributed over the substrate. By measuring the resulting deposition profile with profilometry and with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the temporal variation of the titanium and nitrogen growth flux per pulse is deduced. The analysis reveals that film growth occurs mainly during a HIPIMS pulse, with the growth rate following the HIPIMS phases ignition, current rise, gas rarefaction, plateau and afterglow. The growth fluxes of titanium and nitrogen follow slightly different behaviors with titanium dominating at the beginning of the HIPIMS pulse and nitrogen at the end of the pulse. This is explained by the gas rarefaction effect resulting in a dense initial metal plasma and metal films which are subsequently being nitrified

Structure and wear mechanisms of nano-structured TiAlCN/VCN multilayer coatings

Dry sliding wear of transition metal nitride coatings usually results in a dense and strongly adhered tribofilm on the worn surface. This paper presents detailed electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy characterizations of the microstructure, a newly developed multilayer coating TiAlCN/VCN and its worn surface after pin-on-disc sliding wear against an alumina ball. The friction coefficient in a range of 0.38–0.6 was determined to be related to the environmental humidity, which resulted in a wear coefficient of the coating varying between 1017 and 1016 m3 N1 m1. TEM observation of worn surfaces showed that, when carbon was incorporated in the nitride coating, the formation of dense tribofilm was inhibited

Perspective: Is there a hysteresis during reactive High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (R-HiPIMS)?

This paper discusses a few mechanisms that can assist to answer the title question. The initial approach is to use an established model for DC magnetron sputter deposition, i.e., RSD2013. Based on this model, the impact on the hysteresis behaviour of some typical HiPIMS conditions is investigated. From this first study, it becomes clear that the probability to observe hysteresis is much lower as compared to DC magnetron sputtering. The high current pulses cannot explain the hysteresis reduction. Total pressure and material choice make the abrupt changes less pronounced, but the implantation of ionized metal atoms that return to the target seems to be the major cause. To further substantiate these results, the analytical reactive sputtering model is coupled with a published global plasma model. The effect of metal ion implantation is confirmed. Another suggested mechanism, i.e., gas rarefaction, can be ruled out to explain the hysteresis reduction. But perhaps the major conclusion is that at present, there are too little experimental data available to make fully sound conclusions

Influence of inert gases on the reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering process of carbon-nitride thin films

The influence of inert gases (Ne, Ar, Kr) on the sputter process of carbon and carbon-nitride (CNx) thin films was studied using reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). Thin solid films were synthesized in an industrial deposition chamber from a graphite target. The peak target current during HiPIMS processing was found to decrease with increasing inert gas mass. Time averaged and time resolved ion mass spectroscopy showed that the addition of nitrogen, as reactive gas, resulted in less energetic ion species for processes employing Ne, whereas the opposite was noticed when Ar or Kr were employed as inert gas. Processes in nonreactive ambient showed generally lower total ion fluxes for the three different inert gases. As soon as N2 was introduced into the process, the deposition rates for Ne and Ar-containing processes increased significantly. The reactive Kr-process, in contrast, showed slightly lower deposition rates than the nonreactive. The resulting thin films were characterized regarding their bonding and microstructure by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Reactively deposited CNx thin films in Ar and Kr ambient exhibited an ordering toward a fullerene-like structure, whereas carbon and CNx films deposited in Ne atmosphere were found to be amorphous. This is attributed to an elevated amount of highly energetic particles observed during ion mass spectrometry and indicated by high peak target currents in Ne-containing processes. These results are discussed with respect to the current understanding of the structural evolution of a-C and CNx thin films. VC 2013 American Vacuum Society. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.4769725