The role of argon gas concentration on silicon nitride layer formation by using Pulsed dc glow discharge is investigated by exposing Si (100) to different N 2 /Ar plasma for 4 hrs at 2 mbar pressure and 175 W power. XRD results show the development of different planes of silicon nitride which confirms the formation of silicon nitride films. The peak broadening, overlapping and shifting from their stress free values are attributed to the argon nitrogen plasma concentrations. SEM results show the formation of nitride film. AFM images shows that silicon nitride films are rough in nature and their roughness is increased with argon. Maximum surface roughness is observed for 20% argon while minimum surface roughness is observed at 10% argon content in nitrogen-argon plasma.
NiTi shape memory alloys (SMA) have many biomedical applications due to their excellent mechanical and biocompatible properties. However, nickel in the alloy may cause allergic and toxic reactions, which limit some applications. In this work, titanium oxynitride films were deposited on NiTi samples by high vacuum magnetron sputtering for various nitrogen and oxygen gas flow rates. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results reveal the presence of different phases in the titanium oxynitride thin films. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) elemental mapping of samples after immersion in simulated body fluids (SBF) shows that Ni is depleted from the surface and cell cultures corroborate the enhanced biocompatibility in vitro.
Molybdenum is nitrided by a 100-Hz pulsed DC glow discharge technique for various time durations and fill gas pressures to study the effects on the surface properties of molybdenum. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used for the structural and morphological analysis of the nitrided layers. Vickers' microhardness tester is utilized to investigate surface microhardness. Phase analysis shows the formation of more molybdenum nitride molecules for longer nitriding durations at fill gas pressures of 2 mbar and 3 mbar (1 bar = 10 5 Pa). A considerable increase in surface microhardness (approximately by a factor of 2) is observed for longer duration (10 h) and 2-mbar pressure. Longer duration (10 h) and 2-mbar fill gas pressure favors the formation of homogeneous, smooth, hard layers by the incorporation of more nitrogen.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.