Irradiation of sputtered Al-Si-N coatings by pulsed 200 keV C⁺ ion beam

This paper reports on the effect of the irradiation of Al-Si-N coatings by an intense pulsed ion beam. The Al-Si-N coating was deposited on a steel substrate by a reactive magnetron sputtering. The Al-Si-N coating with a high silicon content (30 at.%) was irradiated by a high-intense pulsed C⁺ ion beam. It was shown that metastable growth defects (GDs) created in the Al-Si-N coating during deposition can be healed up by its post-deposition irradiation using several pulses (1 and 10) of C⁺ ions with energy E_i = 200 keV, ion current density i_s = 7 A/cm², pulse duration t_p = 110 ns and radiation dose 2 MGy. The reduction in deposition-induced GD density results in an increased transmittance of the Al-Si-N coatings.