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The thermal stability of Ti1−xAlxN films deposited by arc evaporation from Ti–Al cathodes with 67 and 75 at. % aluminum, respectively, has been investigated. The microstructure of as-deposited and isothermally annealed samples were studied using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The chemical composition and elemental distribution were determined by energy dispersive x ray (EDX), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, and EDX mapping. Transmission electron micrographs revealed a dense and columnar microstructure in the as-deposited condition. Films deposited from the 67 at. % cathodes were of cubic NaCl-structure phase, whereas films deposited from the 75 at. % cathodes exhibited nanocrystallites of wurzite-structure hexagonal-phase AlN in a cubic (c)-(Ti,Al)N matrix. Both films were stable during annealing at 900 °C/120 min with respect to phase composition and grain size. Annealing at 1100 °C of films deposited from the 67 at. % cathodes resulted in phase separation of c-TiN and h-AlN, via spinodal decomposition of c-TiN and c-AlN. (Ti,Al)N films undergo extensive stress relaxation and defect annihilation at relatively high temperatures, and aspects of these microstructural transformations are discussed.

The mechanical properties of (001)-, (011)-, and (111)-oriented MgO wafers and 1-μm-thick TiN overlayers, grown simultaneously by dc magnetron sputter deposition at 700 °C in a mixed N2 and Ar discharge, were investigated using nanoindentation. A combination of x-ray-diffraction (XRD) pole figures, high-resolution XRD analyses, and Auger electron spectroscopy was used to show that all TiN films were single crystals with N/Ti ratios of 1.0±0.05. The nanoindentation measurements were carried out using a three-sided pyramidal Berkovich diamond indentor tip operated at loads ranging from 0.4 to 40 mN. All three orientations of MgO substrates, as-received, exhibited identical hardness values as determined using the Oliver and Pharr method. After a 1 h anneal at 800 °C, corresponding to the thermal treatment received prior to film growth, the measured hardness of MgO(001) was 9.0±0.3 GPa. All TiN films displayed a completely elastic response at low loads. Measured hardness values, which decreased with increasing loads, increased in the order (011)<(001)<(111). After a 30 s postdeposition anneal at 1000 °C, however, hardness was found to be independent of load except at displacements >100 nm where substrate effects were apparent. TiN(001) and (111) films had hardnesses of 20±0.8 and 21±1 GPa, respectively, while data obtained from (011) layers exhibited large scatter due to surface roughness effects. Young’s moduli for annealed samples, calculated from the elastic unloading curves, were found to be 307±15 GPa for MgO (001) and 445±38 and 449±28 GPa for TiN (001) and TiN (111), respectively.

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Strong compositional-dependent elastic properties have been observed theoretically and experimentally in Ti1−xAlxN alloys. The elastic constant, C11, changes by more than 50% depending on the Al-content. Increasing the Al-content weakens the average bond strength in the local octahedral arrangements resulting in a more compliant material. On the other hand, it enhances the directional (covalent) nature of the nearest neighbor bonds that results in greater elastic anisotropy and higher sound velocities. The strong dependence of the elastic properties on the Al-content offers new insight into the detailed understanding of the spinodal decomposition and age hardening in Ti1−xAlxN alloys.

In this study we discuss the performance of the special quasirandom structure (SQS) method in predicting the elastic properties of B1 (rocksalt) Ti 0.5 Al 0.5 N alloy. We use a symmetry-based projection technique, which gives the closest cubic approximate of the elastic tensor and allows us to align the SQSs of different shapes and sizes for a comparison in modeling elastic tensors. We show that the derived closest cubic approximate of the elastic tensor converges faster with respect to SQS size than the elastic tensor itself. That establishes a less demanding computational strategy to achieve convergence for the elastic constants. We determine the cubic elastic constants (C ij ) and Zener's type elastic anisotropy (A) of Ti 0.5 Al 0.5 N. Optimal supercells, which capture accurately both the configurational disorder and cubic symmetry of elastic tensor, result in C 11 = 447 GPa, C 12 = 158 GPa, and C 44 = 203 GPa with 3% of error and A = 1.40 with 6% of error. In addition, we establish the general importance of selecting proper SQS with symmetry arguments to reliably model elasticity of alloys. We suggest the calculation of nine elastic tensor elements: C 11 , C 22 , C 33 , C 12 , C 13 , C 23 , C 44 , C 55 , and C 66 , to analyze the performance of SQSs and predict elastic constants of cubic alloys. The described methodology is general enough to be extended for alloys with other symmetry at arbitrary composition.

Cubic metastable Ti 0.34 Al 0.66 N / TiN multilayer coatings of three different periods, 25+ 50, 12+ 25, and 6 + 12 nm, and monoliths of Ti 0.34 Al 0.66 N and TiN where grown by reactive arc evaporation. Differential scanning calorimetry reveals that the isostructural spinodal decomposition to AlN and TiN in the multilayers starts at a lower temperature compared to the monolithic TiAlN, while the subsequent transformation from c-AlN to h-AlN is delayed to higher temperatures. Mechanical testing by nanoindentation reveals that, despite the 60 vol % TiN, the as-deposited multilayers show similar or slightly higher hardness than the monolithic Ti 0.34 Al 0.66 N. In addition, the multilayers show a more pronounced age hardening compared to the monolith. The enhanced hardening phenomena and improved thermal stability of the multilayer coatings are discussed in terms of particle confinement and coherency stresses from the neighboring TiN-layers.

The influence of pressure on the phase stabilities of Ti1−xAlxN solid solutions has been studied using first principles calculations. We find that the application of hydrostatic pressure enhances the tendency for isostructural decomposition, including spinodal decomposition. The effect originates in the gradual pressure stabilization of cubic AlN with respect to the wurtzite structure and an increased isostructural cubic mixing enthalpy with increased pressure. The influence is sufficiently strong in the composition-temperature interval corresponding to a shoulder of the spinodal line that it could impact the stability of the material at pressures achievable in the tool-work piece contact during cutting operationsOriginal Publication:Björn Alling, Magnus Odén, Lars Hultman and Igor Abrikosov, Pressure enhancement of the isostructural cubic decomposition in Ti1-xAlxN, 2009, Applied Physics Letters, (95), 181906.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3256196Copyright: American Institute of Physicshttp://www.aip.org