Phase‐Control Enabled Superior Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Nanocrystalline Tungsten‐Molybdenum Thin Films

Abstract

The authors report on the design and stabilization of the mechanically hard and electrically resistive b-phase W-Mo nanocrystalline thin films at room-temperature (RT). The W-Mo films are deposited under different deposition temperatures in the range of T s ¼ RT-30 C. Structural analyses indicate that, as deposited at RT, the W-Mo films crystallize in the metastable b-phase, while those deposited at higher T s (100-300 C) exhibit the thermodynamically stable a-phase. The phase-effect is significant on the mechanical characteristics; superior hardness (H); and modulus of elasticity (E r ) are found in b-than in aphase W-Mo films. At the b-to-a phase transformation, significant reduction occurs in H (40 ! 25 GPa) and E r (275 ! 225 GPa) coupled with a reduction in electrical-resistivity (320 ! 180 mV-cm). Their findings and the phase-mechanical-electrical property correlation established may provide further possibilities to design and tailor the performance of W-based thin films for future electronic and electromechanical device applications.

Angular-dependent interatomic potential for large-scale atomistic simulation of W-Mo-Nb ternary alloys

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Enhanced Diffuse Reflectance of Photons in Molybdenum Back Electrode Films Achieved via Surface Texturing for Thin Film Solar Cells

“…Also, investigations on alloyed W and Mo thin films have shown that an ideal contact electrode is viable for advanced electronic devices. [ 17 ]…”

“…Also, investigations on alloyed W and Mo thin films have shown that an ideal contact electrode is viable for advanced electronic devices. [17] High-quality Mo thin films are often deposited using radio frequency (RF) or direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering methods. It is well established that controlling of various sputtering…”

Fabrication and Characterization of High-Quality Epitaxial Nanocolumnar Niobium Films with Abrupt Interfaces on YSZ(001)

“…With continuous miniaturization of electronic, optoelectronic, photonic, and spintronic devices, the low-dimensional superconducting interconnects have become the center of interest for various overlapping multidimensional research activities. Moreover, understanding and tailoring the phase formation, chemical stability, nanomechanical behavior, and optical properties of such refractory metal and the corresponding oxides are immensely important to demonstrate state-of-the-art technologies for futuristic applications. − An abrupt heteroepitaxial interface with the lowest possible defect formation, absence of anisotropic conductivity through different crystal orientation, less surface scattering, and lower value of bulk resistivity-mean free path product (ρ 0 λ) has already proven to be the most desired characteristics of Nb as a superior superconducting material. ,, The journey of Nb as a superconducting charge carrier is relatively short. Highly sophisticated layer-by-layer epitaxial growth processes have demonstrated the existence of a sharp Nb–semiconductor junction. ,− In addition, a low-cost sputtering technique has also been certified as a potential deposition technique with a similar outcome. ,, However, optimization of growth conditions on various crystalline substrates is still considered as an open problem for further improvement.…”