Microstructure, mechanical, and corrosion properties of Zr1-xCrxBy diboride alloy thin films grown by hybrid high power impulse/DC magnetron co-sputtering

Oxidation kinetics of overstoichiometric TiB2 thin films grown by DC magnetron sputtering

“…To avoid brittle cracking, the TMB 2 thin films need to have both high hardness and ductility, referred to as toughness [28], which can be enhanced by alloying. For example, hard Zr-Cr-B alloy films grown by hybrid high-power impulse and DC magnetron co-sputtering (Cr-HiPIMS/ZrB 2 -DCMS) showed higher toughness and consequently better tribological properties compared to ZrB 2 thin films grown by DCMS [29,30]. Zr-Ta-B alloys, with a self-organized columnar core/shell nanostructure [31], exhibited a simultaneous increase in both nanoindentation hardness (from 35 to 42 GPa) and toughness (4.0-5.2 MPa√m) [17] as well as high thermal and mechanical stabilities [19].…”