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L. Zauner, A. Bahr, T Kozák, J Capek, T. Wojcik, O Hunold, S. Kolozsvári, P Zeman, P.H. Mayrhofer, H. Riedl:
"Time-averaged and time-resolved ion fluxes related to reactive HiPIMS deposition of Ti-Al-N films";
Talk: ÖGV- Seminar 2021, Wien; 2021-09-24.

Time-averaged and time-resolved ion fluxes during reactive HiPIMS deposition of Ti1-xAlxN thin films are thoroughly investigated for the usage of Ti1-xAlx composite targets - Al/(Ti+Al) ratio x = 0.4 and 0.6. Ion mass spectroscopy analysis revealed, that increasing x in the target material or reducing the N2 flow-rate ratio leads to a proportional increase of the Al+-ion count fraction, whereas that of Tin+-ions (n = 1, 2) remains unaffected despite of comparable primary ionisation energies between Al and Ti. In fact, energetic Ti2+-ions account for the lowest flux fraction incident on the substrate surface, allowing for a high Al-solubility limit in cubic-structured Ti1-xAlxN thin films (xmax~0.63). In addition, time-resolved plasma analysis highlights the simultaneous arrival of metal- and process-gas-ions throughout the entire HiPIMS pulse duration. These ion-bombardment conditions, which were dominated by gas-ion irradiation with a significant contribution of Al+-ions (up to ~20 %) and negligible energetic Ti2+-ions, allowed for the growth of cubic Ti0.37Al0.63N coatings exhibiting high hardness of up to ~36 GPa at a low compressive stress level (σ = -1.3 GPa).

Ti-Al-N; HiPIMS; thin film; mass spectroscopy; time-resolved;

Project Head Helmut Riedl:
CDL-SEC