Concepts for the design of advanced nanoscale PVD multilayer protective thin films

Titanium nitride (TiN) is one of the most well-established engineering materials nowadays. TiN can overcome most of the drawbacks of palsmonic metals due to its high electron conductivity and mobility, high melting point and due to the compatibility of its growth with Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. In this work, we review the dielectric function spectra of TiN and we evaluate the plasmonic performance of TiN by calculating (i) the Surface Plasmon Polariton (SPP) dispersion relations and (ii) the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) band of TiN nanoparticles, and we demonstrate a significant plasmonic performance of TiN.

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Optical Properties and Plasmonic Performance of Titanium Nitride

Wear resistance investigation of titanium nitride-based coatings

Nanoscale multilayered TiN/SiC films are of great importance in many electronic and industrial fields. The careful control over the structure of the laminates, nanocrystalline or amorphous, is crucial for their further applicability and study. However, several limitations in their fabrication have revealed important gaps in the understanding of this system. Here, we study influence of temperature on the physico-chemical and functional properties of TiN/SiC multilayers. We will show the clear increment on hardness of the samples, while the nanocomposite structure of the layers is maintained with no increment in crystal size. We will investigate the interstitial effects and rearrangements, between the TiN/SiC phases and their role in the enhanced mechanical response. Our experiments will clearly show a change in the modulation period of the samples, pointing to interfacial reactions, diffusion of ions or crystallization of new phases. Full Investigations of the film properties were carried out using several methods of analysis: XRD, XPS, FTIR, HR-TEM and SIMS Additionally, results were combined with First Principles MD computations of TiN/SiC heterostructures.

Experimental and theoretical studies of the physicochemical and mechanical properties of multi-layered TiN/SiC films: Temperature effects on the nanocomposite structure

A superhard CrAlSiN superlattice coating was deposited by multi-arc ion plating (M-AIP). The coating microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nano-indentation, scratch test and pin-on-disk tribo-test. The HRTEM results indicated that the CrAlSiN coating has a superlattice structure containing alternating fcc -(Cr, Al) N and h -(Al, Si) N layers with a period (λ) of 7.0 ± 0.2 nm. The coherent epitaxial growth structure was observed along {0001} plane of the h ‐(Al,Si) N phase and {111} plane of the fcc -(Cr,Al) N phase, due to the template effect of fcc -(Cr, Al) N crystal layer. The CrAlSiN coating exhibited a high hardness (52 GPa), high resistance to plastic deformation ( H 3 / E ⁎2  = 0.295 GPa), and high adhesion strength (critical load: 50 N). The wear test showed that the superhard CrAlSiN coating has a very low friction coefficient (0.1–0.2) against the counterpart material of WC/Co. The related mechanisms were discussed.

A superhard CrAlSiN superlattice coating deposited by multi-arc ion plating: I. Microstructure and mechanical properties

The mutual promotion effect of crystal growth in TiN∕SiC nanomultilayers is described in this letter. TiN, SiC single layers and a series of TiN∕SiC multilayers with different thickness of SiC and TiN layers were prepared using magnetron sputtering. Microstructure analysis shows that TiN and SiC single layers exist as nanocrystal and amorphous, respectively. However, in the alternately deposited nanomultilayers of TiN and SiC, due to the influence of crystal structure of TiN layer, SiC layer forms a B1-cubic phase when its thickness is less than 0.6nm. At the same time, the formation of SiC crystal promotes the growth of TiN layer and greatly improves its integrity when the thickness of the TiN layer is less than 4.3nm. Due to this effect, TiN∕SiC multilayers form a coherent epitaxial grown superlattice within a certain thickness range of TiN and SiC layers. Correspondingly, the multilayers show a superhardness effect which presents an anomalous enhancement of hardness and elastic modulus. The highest har...

Mutual promotion effect of crystal growth in TiN∕SiC nanomultilayers

TiN∕SiO2 nanomultilayers with various thicknesses of the SiO2 layer have been prepared by multi-target magnetron sputtering. Studies show that amorphous SiO2, which is more favorable under sputtering condition, crystallizes at smaller layer thickness (0.45–0.9nm) due to the template effect of TiN layers. Correspondingly, multilayers exhibit coherent epitaxial growth with intensive (111) texture, and show significant hardness enhancement with maximum hardness of 44.5GPa. Further increase in the SiO2 layer thickness (≳1nm) leads to the formation of amorphous SiO2 which blocks the coherent growth of the films, and thus decreases the multilayer hardness gradually.

Template-induced crystallization of amorphous SiO2 and its effects on the mechanical properties of TiN∕SiO2 nanomultilayers

TiN∕TiB2 nanomultilayers with different TiB2 layer thicknesses were deposited by the multitarget magnetron sputtering method. Studies show that because of the template effects of the cubic TiN layer, the normally amorphous TiB2 layer crystallizes into a compact hexagonal structure when its thickness is less than 2.9 nm. As a result, the multilayers form a c‐TiN∕h‐TiB2 coherent epitaxial structure with the orientation relationship of {111}TiN∕∕{0001}TiB2,⟨110⟩TiN∕∕⟨112¯0⟩TiB2. Correspondingly, the multilayers show a significant hardness enhancement with a maximum hardness of 46.9 GPa. Further increase in TiB2 layer thickness leads to the formation of amorphous TiB2 that blocks the coherent growth of the films, and thus the hardness of the multilayers decreases gradually.

Nan Shao

Papers

Mutual promotion effect of crystal growth in TiN∕SiC nanomultilayers

Template-induced crystallization of amorphous SiO2 and its effects on the mechanical properties of TiN∕SiO2 nanomultilayers

Coherent epitaxial growth and superhardness effects of c‐TiN∕h‐TiB2 nanomultilayers

Coherent growth and superhardness effect of AlN/TiN nanomultilayers

Effect of La on the wettability of Al2O3 by molten aluminum