Materials Transactions, Vol. 49, No. 9 (2008) pp. 2082 to 2090
#2008 The Japan Institute of Metals
Effect of Deposition Conditions on the Structure and Properties
of CrAlN Films Prepared by Pulsed DC Reactive Sputtering
in FTS Mode at High Al Content
Sara Khamseh1; * , Masateru Nose2 , Tokimasa Kawabata1 , Atsushi Saiki1 ,
Kenji Matsuda1 , Kiyoshi Terayama1 and Susumu Ikeno1
1
2
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, Toyama 933-0855, Japan
Faculty of Art and Design, University of Toyama, Takaoka 933-8588, Japan
CrAlN films were prepared by a pulsed DC magnetron sputtering in FTS mode with Cr-Al alloy targets (Cr/Al = 30 at%/70 at%) in a
mixed atmosphere of Ar and N2 . Effects of different deposition conditions (frequency, duty cycle, nitrogen flow rate and pulsed DC power) on
the films structure and phase formation have been investigated. XRD analyses were carried out to determine the phases of the films. The surface
morphology was observed using FE-SEM. Transmission electron microscopy studies were carried out for selected films. In order to investigate
the relationship between the mechanical properties and microstructure of the films, the hardness was measured by a nanoindentation system. All
films exhibited mixture of fcc-CrN and hcp-AlN structures with changing the sputtering conditions. With increasing pulse frequency, the relative
percent of fcc-CrN phase decreased from 100% to 20%. In the current study it was found that there is an optimal duty cycle (around 82%)
where the fcc-CrN relative% reaches to its highest value (about 98%). On the other hand, grain size of the films kept in the range of 20–25 nm
below 82% of duty cycle, then increased up to 50 nm with increasing duty cycle. Changing the nitrogen flow rate affected the fcc-CrN relative
% and films morphology. Under optimal nitrogen flow rate, fcc-CrN relative % reached to about 100% in addition to the formation of micro
columnar morphology, which resulted in the highest plastic hardness of the films. It seems that the mechanical properties of the CrAlN films are
directly influenced not only by fcc/hcp phase ratio, but also by morphology. These results suggest that the dominant fcc-CrN phase and high
hardness of CrAlN films containing high Al content (Cr : Al ¼ 3 : 7) can be obtained under the restricted condition by the pulsed DC magnetron
sputtering in FTS mode. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.MRA2008604]
(Received February 5, 2008; Accepted June 9, 2008; Published July 24, 2008)
Keywords: CrAlN, nanoindentation, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), facing target-type sputtering (FTS), pulsed magnetron
sputtering
1.
Introduction
Transition metal nitride films such as TiN, CrN, TiAlN and
CrAlN have been prepared intensively by magnetron sputtering system. Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering was developed
initially as a means of suppressing the arcing at the target
during reactive sputtering and offers an excellent opportunity
to deposit non-conductive, high-quality coatings with outstanding deposition rates.1,2) Recently, pulsed DC unbalanced
magnetron sputtering is shown to bring higher ion energy and
ion flux to the growing film at the substrate, with modifying
the intrinsic plasma parameters, which, in turn may have a
strong influence on film structure and properties.1) Many
papers have reported a positive effect of increased plasma
density and higher ionization. The high mobility of ions and,
in particular, electrons results from a high ionization of the
pulsed plasma.3,4) This high mobility can then lead to higher
adatom mobility, resulting in modified coating structures.2)
There are some reports on the effect of pulsing parameters
on the properties and structure of hard nitride coatings in
Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering system, but there are a
few reports on these effects in Balanced Magnetron Sputtering system. Facing target type sputtering is one of the
balanced magnetron sputtering system, which technique is
frequently used for the deposition of magnetic materials5,6)
hard coatings7) and transparent conducting coatings.8) We
need to investigate the effect of pulsing parameters on the
mechanical properties and morphology of nitride films in
Balanced Magnetron Spattering system.
*Graduate
Student, University of Toyama
In the last decades, research on hard coatings has been
carried out into the development of new ternary nitrides
consisting of transition elements and other metals.9–12) CrAlN
coating is one of the most attractive nitride, because CrAlN
coatings have been reported to exhibit higher oxidation
resistance than TiAlN.13,14) According to previous reports,
aluminum content strongly affects not only the structure of
CrAlN coatings (fcc-CrN or hcp-AlN)15–18) but also the
oxidation resistance.19,20) Although the theoretical solubility
of Al in fcc-CrN is larger than in fcc-TiN,21) excess Al
content over the Al solubility in fcc-CrAlN films causes
the segregation of hcp-AlN, which alters the mechanical
properties of the coatings.22–24)
The maximum hardness of fcc-Cr1x Alx N coatings attributed to solid solution hardening was reported for x between
0.5 and 0.7.16,18) The hardness and maximum residual
compressive stress was also reported to decrease with the
appearance of the hcp-AlN phase.24)
In order to address the problems for CrAlN coatings, the
present study seeks to obtain experimental data for the effect
of sputtering conditions, in the pulsed DC system in FTS
mode, on the morphology and crystal structure of CrAlN
coatings with high Al content.
2.
Experimental Procedure
CrAlN films were prepared in a pulsed DC sputtering
apparatus which has a pair of targets facing each other
(referred to as the facing target-type sputtering, Osaka
Vacuum Co., Ltd., FTS-2R) as shown in Fig. 1, where a
magnetic field of about 0.02 T is applied perpendicular to
Effect of Deposition Conditions on the Structure and Properties of CrAlN Films
Magnet
films. TEM samples were prepared and observed parallel
(plane view) to the film surface. The plane-view sample was
thinned by mechanical grinding, followed by ion milling with
Arþ in a BAL-TEC, RES010 system operated at 5 kV with an
incident angle ranging from 10 to 25 . TEM studies were
carried out with a (TOPCON, EM-002B type) TEM operated
at 120 kV. The crystal size in the films was estimated from
the width of XRD peaks using Scherer’s equation.
Target
3.
Exhaust
Ar
N2
Substrates
Magnet
NS
2083
NS
Target
Results and Discussion
Substrates
fcc-CrN% ¼ ½I(CrN) =I(AlN) þ I(CrN) 100
(1122)
(1013)
(220)
(1120)
f=190kHz
(1012)
Where I(CrN) is the peak intensity of the fcc-CrN phase and
I(AlN) is the peak intensity of the hcp-AlN phase from the
XRD patterns in -2 mode. The peak intensity of (111) plane
of the fcc-CrN phase and (101 0) plane of hcp-AlN phase
were used for this calculation. When the sputtered film does
not show a strong preferred orientation, phase ratio in the
mixed phase film can be estimated roughly from the peak
intensity of XRD pattern. Figure 3 depicts the variation of
phase ratio of fcc-CrN with the pulsing frequency. The fccCrN% decrease from 100% to 20% with increasing
frequency. This fact means that the film structure changed
from dominant fcc-CrN at 120 kHz to the dominant hcp-AlN
at higher frequencies.
(200)
the target planes to confine the plasma between the two
targets and thereby maintain discharge even under a lower
gas pressure than the limit of planar magnetron sputtering.
Two rectangular plates (100 mm 160 mm 10 mm thickness) of alloy targets (Cr/Al = 30 at%/70 at%) (99.9%),
were sputtered in a mixture of argon and nitrogen, both of
99.9999% purity. The system was evacuated to a vacuum
better than 5 105 Pa (¼ 3:8 107 Torr) prior to deposition. The flow rate of each gas (Ar/N2 ) was independently
controlled using a mass-flow controller. In order to avoid
target poisoning and control the nitride formation precisely,
the argon gas flow rate was fixed at 15 sccm and employed a
nitrogen gas flow rate brought back from a high nitrogen flow
rate to a lower nitrogen flow rate along the hysteresis loop
of reactive sputtering.25,26) A mirror-polished silicon wafer
25 mm square was used as the substrate. All the substrates
were cleaned ultrasonically with acetone, ethanol, and 2propanol, in this sequence, before sputtering deposition.
The input power of pulsed DC, which was applied to both
targets synchronously, was controlled in the range from 1.5 to
2 kw. The target-to-substrate distance was fixed at 115 mm.
The substrate temperature was increased to about 150 C
during deposition due to particle bombardment of the
substrate even without bias application and substrate heating.
The film thickness was constrained between 1.8 and 2 mm by
controlling the sputtering time.
The hardness was measured by a nanoindentation system
(Fischer scope, H100C) at room temperature. The indentation was performed using a triangular Berkovitch diamond
pyramid. The load was selected to keep an impression
depth not more than 10% of the film thickness, so that the
influence from the substrate can be neglected.
The crystal structure of the films was identified by X-ray
diffractometery using Cu K radiation with either a thin
film or -2 goniometer (Philips X’pert system). When using
the thin film goniometer, scans were made in the grazing
angle mode (Seeman–Bohlin mode) with an incident beam
angle of 2 .
A (JEOL, JSM-6700F) field emission scanning electron
microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to provide a high resolution
scan on the plane view and fractured cross-section of the
(1010)
Schematic drawing of a facing target type sputtering apparatus.
(0002)
(111)
Fig. 1
Intensity, I/(arbit, unit)
Pulsed-DC
3.1 Influence of frequency
It is well known that pulsing condition such as frequency
or duty cycle has a significant effect on the properties of
CrAlN films.1,27) A series of CrAlN films were deposited at
N2 /Ar flow rate of 30/15 sccm and pulsing power of 1.5 kW
with a different frequencies varying from 120 to 190 kHz,
when the duty cycle was adjusted between 6080% with
respect to the stability of plasma at each frequency. The XRD
patterns of the films prepared under different frequencies in
the grazing angle mode are shown in Fig. 2. Analysis of
the XRD results showed that with increasing frequency,
the structure changed from the dominant fcc-CrN structure
at 120 kHz to a mixed structure of fcc-CrN and hcp-AlN.
The relative percentage of the fcc-CrN phase was
calculated according to the following equation:
f=170kHz
f=150kHz
f=120kHz
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2θ
Fig. 2 X-ray diffraction patterns of CrAlN films at different frequencies
measured by thin-film method.
S. Khamseh et al.
20
(1122)
(220)
Duty cycle=78%
Duty cycle=68%
0
110
Duty Cycle=82%
(1120)
40
(111)
60
(0002)
CrN(%)
80
(1010)
Intensity, I/(arbit, unit)
100
(200)
2084
20
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
30
40
50
200
60
70
80
2θ
Frequancy,f/kHz
Lin et al. revealed that the pulsing conditions have a
significant effect on the Al and Cr concentrations of the films.
In an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system; with an
increase in the pulse frequency and reverse time the Cr
content of the films decreases, which is correlated to a
simultaneous increase of the Al content of the films.27) Given
that sputtering phenomena in our system have a similar
tendency as those in Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering,
where Al content in the film seems to increase with
increasing the pulse frequency.
Fig. 4 X-ray diffraction patterns of CrAlN films at different duty cycles
measured by thin-film method.
grain size,
CrN%
100
55
90
50
80
45
70
40
60
35
50
30
40
25
30
20
20
3.2 Influence of duty cycle
The films were prepared at different duty cycles with a
fixed N2 /Ar flow rate of 30/15 sccm, the pulsing power
of 1.5 kW and the frequency of 120 kHz. XRD patterns of
the films in the grazing angle mode are shown in Fig. 4. A
pronounced fcc-CrN phase was obtained in the films
deposited at 82% duty cycle. The films that prepared at
lower duty cycles showed mixed structure of fcc-CrN and
hcp-AlN phases. The dependence of the grain size and fccCrN% on the duty cycle is shown in Fig. 5. The fcc-CrN% in
the films increase with increasing duty cycle, reaching to
almost 100% of fcc-CrN at 82% of duty cycle, then decrease
to about 50%, whereas the grain size of the films keeps a
constant value in the range of 20–25 nm below 82% of duty
cycle, then increasing abruptly up to 50 nm at 88%.
Lin et al. demonstrated that in the P-CFUBMS system, the
calculated ion flux decreases with an increase in the duty
cycle. On their view, with a decrease of the duty cycle (an
increase of positive pulse time), the cathode is switched
proportionally to a positive voltage for a longer period of
time, which in turn provides more time for positive ions to
stream away from the target. This increased escape time
results in a higher number of ions gaining the extra kinetic
energy made available from the positive potential switch,
thereby increasing the flux of higher energy ions at the
substrate.27) In the present study, similar phenomena have
possibly occurred. Ion energy and flux seem to decrease in
the plasma, with increasing the duty cycle. The low ion
energy and ion flux leads to a low nucleation density due
to the low mobility and diffusivity of the adatoms on the
CrN%
Influence of frequency on fcc-CrN% of CrAlN films.
Grain size, D/(nm)
Fig. 3
10
15
0
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
Duty Cycle(%)
Fig. 5 Influence of duty cycle on the fcc-CrN% and grain size of CrAlN
films.
substrate, which consequently increases the grain size of
the films.
It was reported that in unbalanced magnetron sputtering
system, increasing the duty cycle leads to the decrease of the
Al content and an increasing of the Cr content in the films.1,27)
However, it seems that there is an optimal duty cycle (82%)
where the fcc-CrN% reaches to its highest value (98%) for
the FTS system.
3.3 Influence of nitrogen flow rate and pulsed DC power
Table 1 summarizes the details of the film deposition,
magnetron pulsing parameters and film properties. Nitrogen
flow rate was changed in the range of 10 to 35 sccm while
pulsed DC power was chosen 1.5 or 2 kW under the fixed
frequency of 120 kHz and the duty cycle of 82%.
XRD patterns in the grazing angle mode for the films
prepared at different nitrogen flow rates and pulsed DC
powers are shown in Fig. 6. The XRD results show that an
amorphous like structure with broadened peaks is formed at a
nitrogen flow rate of 10 sccm (S-1). In contrast, fcc-CrN and
hcp-AlN were obtained in the film deposited at 20 sccm of
nitrogen flow rate (S-2). Some unknown peaks are also found
Effect of Deposition Conditions on the Structure and Properties of CrAlN Films
N2
(sccm)
Power
(W)
Hpl
(GPa)
EPMA
Cr/[Cr+Al]
Crat%
Alat%
Nat%
S-1
10
1.5
17.9
—
—
—
—
S-2
20
1.5
6.8
0.32
15.8
33.1
50.2
S-3
25
2.0
8.3
0.31
15.2
32.9
51.6
S-4
30
1.5
27.2
0.34
17.1
31.91
51.1
S-5
30
2.0
35.7
0.35
16.9
31.1
52.1
S-6
35
2.0
22.4
—
—
—
—
CrN%
35
100
30
80
25
20
60
15
40
10
20
5
0
(311)
(2021)
(220)
(1013)
(1120)
unknown
2kW
1.5kW
2kW
1.5kW
N2=30sccm
N2=25sccm
N2=20sccm
N2=10sccm
1.5kW
40°
28
30
32
34
0
36
Fig. 7 Influence of nitrogen flow rate on the fcc-CrN% and Hpl of CrAlN
films that prepared under pulsed DC power of 2 kW.
N2=30sccm
30°
26
N2 flow rate/sccm
(200)
(111)
(1010)
unknown (0002)
Intensity, I/(arbit unit)
24
20°
120
CrN(%)
Sample
No
Hpl,
Grain size,
40
Grain size,D/nm/Hpl/Gpa
Table 1 Details of deposition parameters of the films that prepared
under different deposition conditions (f = 120 kHz, Ar = 15 sccm, Duty
cycle = 80%).
2085
50°
60°
70°
80°
2θ
Fig. 6 X-ray diffraction patterns of CrAlN films at different nitrogen flow
rates and pulse powers measured by thin-film method.
in the film deposited at 25 sccm of nitrogen flow rate (S-3).
With further increase of the nitrogen flow rate to 30 sccm
(S-4, 5), the fcc-CrN phase becomes predominate. Only the
weak (101 0) peak of the hcp-AlN phase was observed in S-4,
indicating low content of hcp-AlN phase in the coating. This
result was examined by TEM observation, which will be
discussed later.
Peak positions of fcc-CrN phase shifted to higher 2 values
in comparison with the standard JCPDS card values for fccCrN phase. This shift in 2 can be attributed to a decrease in
lattice parameter of CrAlN (approximately 1%) due to the
substitution of some of the Cr atoms by Al atoms in the fccCrN lattice. In the hcp-AlN phase, the peak of (101 0) shifted
to lower diffraction angles while those of (0002) shifted to
higher angles in comparison with the standard JCPDS card
values for hcp-AlN phase.
Change of lattice parameter was evaluated by the equation,
a(AlN) ¼ ½a(XRD) a(AlN) =a(AlN) . The lattice parameters
changed between 1%2% in a-axis, and between 0:06%
4% in c-axis. Therefore, the lattice parameter anisotropically changed with respect to the (101 0) and (0002) planes.
Kimura et al.18) showed that the crystal structures of
Crð1xÞ Alx N film changed from the NaCl-type to wurtzitetype at Al contents x ¼ 0:6{0:7. For Al content X > 0:7, the
lattice spacing of hcp-AlN expanded in the a-direction and
shrank in the c-direction with addition of Cr atom into AlN
lattice. In the present study, in spite of coexistence of two
fcc-CrN and hcp-AlN phases in the films, the anisotropic
lattice change seems to happen.
One can see that plastic hardness, Hpl , of the films ranges
between 6.8 to 35.7 GPa. Figure 7 illustrates the grain size,
D, and fcc-CrN% and the plastic hardness, Hpl , as a function
of nitrogen flow rate for the films prepared at 2 kW. Grain
size, D, which was calculated from the peak width of (111)
plane, is almost constant around 25 nm versus N2 flow rate.
On the other hand, change of fcc-CrN% and Hpl show same
tendency and reach to a maximum at nitrogen flow rate of
30 sccm. In a same way, for the film prepared at 1.5 kW
(S-4 film) dominant fcc-CrN phase of about 98% was
obtained at N2 flow rate of 30 sccm.
The Gibb’s free energy of formation of hcp-AlN phase
is lower than that of fcc-CrN phase.28) Additionally, in the
unbalanced magnetron sputtering system, the amount of
aluminum contained in the (Cr,Al)N coatings was minimal at
high nitrogen pressures.10) Mientus et al. reported that the
minimum nitrogen pressure for the formation of hcp-AlN
phase was about 0.08 Pa, while the pressure for fcc-CrN
phase was about 0.2 Pa in the DC magnetron sputtering
system of elemental targets.29) This may mean that with
increasing the nitrogen flow rate, the Al content decreases in
the coatings, which consequently increases the Cr content in
the films, leading to the formation of fcc-CrN phase at higher
nitrogen flow rates. Film composition and the content ratio of
metal atoms (Cr/[Cr+Al]) for S-2, 3, 4 and 5 are shown in
Table 1. Although there was a small difference less than 2%
in composition between these films, content ratio of Cr and
Al was affected more significantly by nitrogen flow rates.
As for the film S-2, 3 (N2 flow rates of 20, 25 sccm) Cr
content ratios (Cr/[Cr+Al]) are 0:31{0:32, which are similar
to the ratio for the target (0.3). On the other hand, the ratios
for the films S-4 and 5 are 0:34{0:35, that means, the Cr
content ratio increased a little for the films that were prepared
under the nitrogen flow rate of 30 sccm in both powers
compared to S-2 and 3. However, the maximum fcc-CrN% at
30 sccm of N2 flow rate in this study cannot be explained
perfectly by this speculation. It might be attributed to the
difference of deposition system.
2086
S. Khamseh et al.
(a)
300nm
(e)
300nm
(b)
1 µm
(f)
1 µm
(c)
(d)
300nm
1 µm
(g)
(h)
300nm
1 µm
Fig. 8 Plane-view and cross-sectional FE-SEM images of CrAlN films prepared under different deposition conditions (a), (b) N2 =
10 sccm, pulse power = 1.5 kW (c), (d) N2 = 20 sccm, pulse power = 1.5 kW (e), (f) N2 = 25 sccm, pulse power = 2 kW (g), (h) N2 =
30 sccm, pulse power = 1.5 kW.
3.4 Microstructure evaluation
FE-SEM observations were performed to determine the
morphology of the coatings. Figure 8 provides the development of the morphology upon the nitrogen flow rate and
pulsed DC power. In the films prepared under a low nitrogen
flow rate (S-1), fine grained structure was observed to
develop Figs. 8(a) and 8(b). As shown in Figs. 8(a) and 8(b)
the FE-SEM imaging of the film prepared under the nitrogen
flow rate of 10 sccm (S-1) was very smooth with a grain size
that was out of the resolution of FE-SEM. This film seems to
consist of very fine grains as can be seen in an amorphous or
nanocrystalline films. In the film prepared under nitrogen
flow rate of 20 sccm (S-2) the nodular like outgrowth was
observed on the matrix that having fine columnar structure as
shown in Fig. 8(c). This kind of morphological feature is
called node or nodular defect.30) Xing-Zhao Ding et al.
prepared CrAlN films having high aluminum content with an
unbalanced magnetron sputtering system and reported that
arcing on the target surface may have caused this kind of
inhemogenity in the film.31) For the film prepared at a pulsed
DC power of 2 kW under nitrogen flow rate of 25 sccm (S-3),
a pebble-like microstructure without any node was observed
(Fig. 8(e)). However, a significant increase of the column
width was observed with an increase in nitrogen flow rate and
pulsed DC power. The cross-sectional micrograph (Fig. 8(f))
of S-3 film indicates typical Zone-I structure,32) showing a
wide columnar structure with large column width between
660 to 1200 nm. The films of this type are characterized by
a spiky topography due to tightly packed columns with
hemispherical tops.30) In contrast, S-4 film showed a
pyramid-like surface feature. This condition results in a
finer columnar size, denser structure and smoother surface
morphology, without any nodes as shown in Fig. 8(g) and
(h). The column width ranged between 160 to 200 nm, which
is slightly larger than that of matrix for S-2. However, the
structure of S-4 films possess a micro-columnar structure,
comparable to the Zone-I structure of Thornton’s zone
models.
TEM observations were performed in order to determine
the differences in the microstructure and phase formation of
the films. Figure 9(a) is the bright field TEM micrograph of
the film prepared under the nitrogen flow rate of 20 sccm
(S-2). In comparison with FE-SEM image (Fig. 8(c)) bright
field TEM image of the film exhibits a polycrystalline
structure with some nodes which seem thicker than matrix as
can be seen in the dark contrast of the image (Fig. 9(a)).
From dark field images of the film, average grain sizes of the
matrix and node ranged between 60–65 nm and 270–300 nm,
respectively. The corresponding electron diffraction patterns
of white contrast part (matrix) and dark contrast part (node)
of Fig. 9(a) are shown in Figs. 9(b) and 9(c). Analysis of
these diffraction patterns for the matrix and the node reveals
the crystal structure of fcc-CrN phase and hcp-AlN phase
respectively. These observations confirmed the results of
XRD shown in Fig. 6.
Plane view TEM observation was carried out for S-3 film.
Figure 10(a) exhibits a bright field TEM image of the film
corresponding to the polycrystalline structure with pebblelike morphology as shown in Fig. 8(e). The related diffraction pattern shown in Fig. 10(b) indicates sharp diffraction
spots arranged on a circle, which suggest polycrystalline
material consisting of relatively large grains. SAED analysis
reveals the co-existence of fcc-CrN, hcp-AlN and some
unknown phase in the film. Figure 10(c) is a dark field image
for Spot-1 illustrated in Fig. 10(b). The grain size, obtained
from the dark field image of the film, was in the range of
200300 nm. Analysis of SAED revealed the existence of
hcp-AlN phase in this area as shown in Fig. 10(d). Dark
field image and related diffraction pattern for spot-2 marked
on the main diffraction pattern are shown in Fig. 10(e). The
grain size of the film obtained from this dark field image is
between 80300 nm. Analyses of related diffraction pattern
Effect of Deposition Conditions on the Structure and Properties of CrAlN Films
2087
(a)
500nm
(c)
(b)
200
220
0002
1011
1010
Fig. 9 Plane-view TEM micrograph and electron diffraction patterns of the film with nitrogen flow rate of 20 sccm (power = 1.5 kW,
Hpl ¼ 6:8 GPa, S-2) (a) bright field image (b) SAED of main matrix with fcc-CrN structure ([001] oriented grain) (c) SAED of staked area
with hcp-AlN structure ([211 0] oriented grain).
(c)
(a)
200nm
(b)
(e)
100nm
Spot-3
Spot-1
Spot-2
300nm
(f)
(d)
200
0002
1011
220
200
1010
(g)
(h)
61°
28°
300nm
Fig. 10 Plane-view TEM images and electron diffraction patterns of the film with nitrogen flow rate of 25 sccm (power = 2.0 kW,
Hpl ¼ 8:3 GPa, S-3) (a) bright field image (b) SAED with mixed structure of fcc-CrN and hcp-AlN and unknown phase (c) dark field
image of Spot-1 (d) SAED pattern of bright grain of image (c) with hcp-AlN structure ([211 0] oriented grain) (e) dark filed image of Spot2 (f) SAED of bright grain in (e) with fcc-CrN structure ([001] oriented grain) (g), dark field image of Spot-3 (h), SAED of bright grain in
(g) with unknown structure.
2088
S. Khamseh et al.
(a)
(b)
500nm
500nm
(c)
222
311
220
200
111
Fig. 11 Plane-view TEM micrograph and corresponding electron diffraction pattern of the film with nitrogen flow rate of 30 sccm with
dominant fcc-CrN structure (a) bright field image (b) dark field image of first ring with grain size between 60–100 nm (c) SAED with
fcc-CrN structure (Hpl ¼ 27:2 GPa, S-4).
(Fig. 10(f)) revealed the growth of fcc-CrN phase in this
grain. Dark field image and the related diffraction pattern for
spot-3 are illustrated in Fig. 10(g). The related SAED pattern
(Fig. 10(h)) has proved to be similar to the hcp-AlN phase
since the angles are same as that for the hcp phase with foil
plane of (211 0), but the lattice spacing are different from
those of hcp-AlN phase. Lattice spacing d of the (0002) plane
of this unknown hcp phase was shifted about 2.4% from d of
hcp-AlN (0002) plane. However, d of (101 0) and d of (101 1)
planes of this unknown hcp phase was shifted about 5:9%
and 6:5% from the lattice spacing of the corresponding hcpAlN planes, respectively (Fig. 10(d)). In any case, microstructure evaluation using FE-SEM and TEM revealed that
the S-3 film exhibits typical Zone-I structure with large
columnar width of about 660 to 1200 nm, consisting of fccCrN and hcp-AlN phases mainly. The low plastic hardness
of 8.3 GPa for the S-3 film is probably attributed to high
amount of hcp-AlN phase in the film, which hardness is
about half of fcc-CrN phase (with hardness about 19 GPa),
and the rough morphology.33)
Since a weak (101 0) peak (2 ¼ 33:2 ) of hcp-AlN phase
were observed in the XRD pattern of the S-4 film consisting
of the dominant presence (100%) of fcc-CrN, TEM observation was carried out for S-4 film. Figure 11(a) shows a
bright field image of this film. Sharp tips of the pyramid like
structure observed in bright field image of the film are in
conformity with the FE-SEM image (Fig. 8(g)). Analysis of
the related diffraction pattern revealed a dominant crystal
structure for fcc-CrN phase. Dark field image of this film
indicates that the average grain size is between 6787 nm.
In order to examine the existence of hcp-AlN phase in the
film TEM observation was done at higher magnifications.
Figure 12(a) shows the bright field image of the same film.
Analysis of corresponding electron diffraction pattern of
the film reveals the existence of a mixed structure of fcc-CrN
and hcp-AlN phases in the film (Fig. 12(b)). Dark field
image corresponding to (101 0) diffraction ring is shown in
Fig. 12(c). Analysis of the related diffraction pattern of the
bright grain indicates the existence of hcp-AlN phase with
small grain size (26 nm). As shown in Fig. 12(c), a low
distribution of this hcp-AlN phase was also observed in the
other areas of the film. From precise analysis of the weak
XRD peaks and SAED patterns, hcp-AlN phase is determined as an exact hcp-AlN phase. Therefore, we can
conclude that the pure hcp-AlN has been formed in S-4
film and that no Cr atom is substituted to Al atom in the
hcp-AlN crystals. It should be noticed that even in the
S-5 film exhibiting no hcp-AlN phase in XRD chart, traces
of the hcp-AlN phase were detected by TEM diffraction
(is not shown here).
According to the previous reports as for unbalanced
magnetron sputtering, CrAlN films maintained fcc-CrN
structure even for the Al content more than 71%.1) On the
other hand, it has been reported that the structure of CrAlN
film prepared by AIP method changes from the fcc-CrN to
hcp-AlN phase at the Al/(Al+Cr) ratios of X0:6{0:7.18)
Effect of Deposition Conditions on the Structure and Properties of CrAlN Films
2089
(c)
(a)
100nm
100nm
(d)
(b)
0110
1120
60°
1010
222
200
1010
Fig. 12 Plane-view TEM micrograph and corresponding electron diffraction pattern of the film with nitrogen flow rate of 30 sccm with
dominant fcc-CrN structure (Hpl ¼ 27:2 GPa, S-4) (a) bright field image (b) SAED pattern with mixed structure of fcc-CrN and hcp-AlN
structures (c) dark field image of third ring with hcp-AlN structure[112 1] oriented grain.
Although the details are not known at this moment, we can
conclude that it is very difficult to prepare CrAlN films
consisting of 100% fcc-CrN phase without any content of
hcp-AlN phase using Cr70%-Al30% alloy target with a
facing target type sputtering system. On the other hand,
it is worth noting that the films prepared at the narrow range
of sputtering condition exhibited higher Hpl value ranging
from 28 to 35 GPa (S-4 and S-5 films). The increased
hardness of S-4 and S-5 films can be explained by two facts:
one is improved density of microstructure showing a fine
columnar morphology with relatively small grain size
(60 nm), and the second is the contribution of the dominant
fcc-CrN phase with very little amount of hcp-AlN phase.
4.
Conclusion
CrAlN films has been prepared by a pulsed DC reactive
sputtering in FTS system with (Cr/Al = 30 at%/70 at%)
alloy targets. Effects of different deposition conditions
(nitrogen flow rate, frequency and duty cycle) on the film
structure and phase formation have been investigated using
XRD, FE-SEM, and TEM.
It was found that hcp-AlN/fcc-CrN phase ratio and grain
size of the films changed with varying the frequency and duty
cycle. Under the optimum condition of the frequency and
duty cycle, nitrogen flow rate did not affect the grain size
significantly but the morphology and hcp-AlN/fcc-CrN
phase ratio. The comparative study by nanoindentation
measurement and microstructure evaluation demonstrated
that the plastic hardness of these films were in the range of
6.8 GPa to 35.7 GPa, which were affected strongly by fcc-
CrN% and the morphology. We can conclude that in addition
to the sputtering conditions, the pulsing parameters should
carefully controlled in order to obtain fcc-CrN phase with
proper morphology and grain size, consequently leading
to good mechanical properties in the films. However, the
precise observation of microstructure of the films using TEM
revealed that even the hardest films contained hcp-AlN
phase. Accordingly, it seems to be difficult to obtain CrAlN
films consisting of 100% fcc-CrN phase using Cr30-Al70
alloy target in the FTS system.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their thanks for the financial
support by a grant for scientific research from Japan society
for the promotion of science. Grateful thanks are specially
dedicated to Dr. Y. Sakamoto for help in executing the TEM
sample preparation and to Mr. H. Ura and Mrs. Juli Ma for
their help in sample preparation.
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