Effects of sputtering power on mechanical properties of Cr films deposited by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Chromium (Cr) films were deposited on plain carbon steel sheets by dc and rf magnetron sputtering as well as by electroplating. Effects of dc or rf sputtering power on the deposition rate and properties such as, hardness, adhesion strength, surface roughness and corrosion resistance of the Cr films were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microcopy (SEM) analyses were performed to investigate the crystal structure, surface roughness, thickness of the Cr films. Salt fog tests were used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the samples. The deposition rate, hardness and surface roughness of the Cr film deposited by either dc or rf sputtering increase with the increase in sputtering power but the adhesion strength is nearly independent of the sputtering power. The deposition rate, hardness and adhesion strength of the Cr film deposited by dc sputtering are higher than those of the Cr film deposited by rf sputtering, but rf sputtering offers smoother surface and higher corrosion resistance. The sputter deposited Cr film is harder and has a smoother surface than the electroplated one. The sputter deposited Cr film also has higher corrosion resistance than the electroplated one, which may be attributed to the smoother surface of the sputter deposited film.

GHz-range resonant ultrasound spectroscopy for a free-standing nano film studied by picosecond ultrasonics

“…20,57,60) On the other hand, Cr is one of body-centered-cubic crystals, which often show á ñ 110 texture. 16,61,62) In spite of uncertain crystal directions and their volume ratios in the Cr layer, determined elastic constant of Cr is lower than bulk values 54) (a) (b) by 3%-14% as listed in Table II, which is similar with usual metal metallic thin films. From the above results, we conclude that thin metallic films show smaller elastic constants than those estimated from their bulk materials, and the GHz-RUS method is highly useful for measuring them correctly.…”

Wear and corrosion of CoCrFeNiMnTix high entropy alloy coatings by laser cladding

“…Hence, surface modification techniques can effectively overcome these problems and prolong its life span in a cavitation/corrosion environment. A lot of studies have been done to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of 304SS using surface modification techniques, such as magnetron sputtering technology [1], laser surface modification technique [2], plasma spraying [3] and arc-spraying [4] etc. Wang et al [5] synthesised amorphous or nanocrystalline CrNbTiMoZr high entropy alloy films on silicon wafers and 304 stainless steel by DC magnetron sputtering.…”

Roughness Parameters for Standard Description of Surface Nanoarchitecture

“…The fabrication of thin metallic films using magnetron sputtering has been investigated as a mean of controlling the surface nanoarchitecture of some solids (Cai et al , ; Wang et al , ). It has been shown that by altering sputtering conditions (e.g., power, Ar gas pressure), metallic films of differing roughness can be produced (Jeyachandran et al , ; Kim et al , ). Films of various thicknesses deposited in an identical way have also been shown to exhibit different roughness characteristics (Cai et al , ; Jeyachandran et al , ).…”