Silicon oxynitride layers have been widely used to tailor the optical performance and mechanical resistance of multilayer optical coatings. The key issue for their reliable large‐scale application on a glass substrate is the effect of technological parameters on their performance. Here we report on the interrelationship between the conditions of the reactive magnetron deposition process and composition, structure and in turn optical and mechanical properties. The process gas composition and pressure level exhibit a strong influence on the film properties, whereas only moderate effect of magnetron power was observed. The O/(O+N) ratio of the films changes from 0.33 to 0.90 and the film density varies between 2.66 g.cm−3 and 1.85 g.cm−3 along with the increase in the process gas pressure from 0.58 Pa to 1.02 Pa. The refractive index shifts between 1.81 and 1.48 and the residual stress of the film varies in the range from compressive (−385 MPa) to tensile (26 MPa). Hardness and reduced modulus follow the same trend and decline with the increase in process pressure from 12.1 GPa to 2.1 GPa and from 120.3 to 31.6 GPa, respectively. The abrasive wear resistance decreases with the nitrogen content in the films.
In the present study, Mo 2 N/Ag (MeN-X type) nanocomposite coatings were produced on HSS substrates by magnetron sputtering. The silver content of the films were adjusted by changing the inserted area of silver on Mo target. The silver content of the films were between 0 and 10 at%. The effect of Ag content on the hardness and structural properties of Mo 2 N/Ag nanocomposite thin films were investigated.
The influence of process parameters on amorphous reactively sputtered silicon nitride thin films is reported in this study. The films were prepared with various argon and nitrogen flows, and sputter power in in-line horizontal coater by DC magnetron reactive sputtering from Si (10% Al) target. Refractive index and mechanical properties like residual stress, hardness and elastic modulus were studied. We show that process pressure has an important influence on mechanical properties of the sputtered film. On the other hand, the nitrogen content is the key factor for the optical properties of the films.
Magnetron sputtering is widely used for deposition of silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) coatings on glass in large‐area applications. Since repeated deposition simulates the factory‐scale in‐line processing, amorphous aluminum‐doped SiOxNy layers with thickness of about 250 nm were deposited by reactive pulsed DC sputtering in a multi‐pass process with repeated linear movement of a glass substrate under an Al‐alloyed Si target. Using specular X‐ray reflectivity we show periodic fluctuations of the material density throughout the entire thickness of the resulting coating. The number of periods corresponds to the number of passes of the substrate through the plasma of the magnetron. Fitting results suggest a model consistent with a periodic alternation of the O/N ratio. These subtle stoichiometric fluctuations in the SiOxNy layer composition were confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis with nanoscale resolution, and with detailed elemental maps of characteristic X‐rays of the layered cross‐section. Our study demonstrates the superior sensitivity of the relatively simple nondestructive X‐ray reflectivity method for industrial line‐process inspection compared to ellipsometry.
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