Abstract
The article reports on thermal stability of the structure and mechanical properties of Zr-Si-N films with a high (≥ 25 at.%) Si content deposited from a ceramic ZrSi2 target by reactive magnetron sputtering. The annealed films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, microhardness and macrostress measurements, and differential scanning calorimetry. Special attention was devoted to the influence of the annealing temperature (up to 1600 °C), annealing environment and presence of the substrate. It was found that the phase composition of the films strongly influences its thermal stability. Furthermore, (i) microhardness of the Zr-Si-N films sputtered under conditions used in our experiments is determined by their structure and not by the macrostress, (ii) crystallization of the X-ray amorphous films strongly depends on its phase composition, the ambient atmosphere and the incorporation of the substrate elements into the film due to interdiffusion during annealing, and (iii) X-ray amorphous Zr-Si-N films containing a high (≥ 50 vol.%) content of the Si3N4 phase exhibit the highest thermal stability considerably exceeding 1000 °C.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3368-3376 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Surface and Coatings Technology |
Volume | 201 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 4 Dec 2006 |
Keywords
- Crystallization
- High SiN content
- Magnetron sputtering
- Thermal stability
- Zr-Si-N films
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Materials Chemistry