In this work, titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) films were deposited on a silicon substrate via reactive pulsed DC magnetron sputtering. The effect of deposition parameters such as nitrogen gas flow rate, substrate temperature, and bias voltage on the structural and mechanical properties of TiAlN films was investigated. The crystal structure, morphology, and hardness of TiAlN films were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM, and nanoindentation. An improved crystallinity of TiAlN films was obtained by varying the substrate temperature and bias voltage. The morphology of the TiAlN film exhibited a columnar structure, and the morphology gradually changed with the increase in bias voltage. The films thickness decreased upon increasing the nitrogen gas flow rate, substrate temperature, and bias voltage. In addition, the hardness of the TiAlN film was enhanced by adjusting the nitrogen gas flow rate, substrate temperature, and bias voltage, and a suitable elemental component ratio was obtained. A maximum hardness of approximately 28.9 GPa was obtained for the TiAlN film with a nitrogen gas flow rate of 4 sccm, substrate temperature of 500ºC, bias voltage of 100 V, and an elemental composition Al/(Al + Ti) of approximately 34.35%.
TiAlN and TiAlN gradient films were deposited on Si substrates by reactive pulsed DC magnetron sputtering. The crystal structure and morphology of TiAlN films were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), respectively. Moreover, elemental composition, hardness, and adhesion of TiAlN films were analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), nanoindentation test, and scratch test, respectively. The TiAlN films and TiAlN gradient films showed columnar structure and cubic crystal structure with different orientation planes. The elemental mapping of TiAlN gradient films clearly demonstrated the TiAlN gradient films. TiAlN gradient films have slightly lower hardness compared to TiAlN films while adhesion of the films increases.
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