Tailoring the nanostructure of Ti-Si-N thin films by HiPIMS in deep oscillation magnetron sputtering (DOMS) mode

摘要

Nanocomposite TiSiN films consist of nano-sized TiN crystallites surrounded by an amorphous Si-N matrix. Many works have shown that the hardness of nanostructured TiSiN films increases with increasing silicon content up to an optimal concentration. However, energetic ion bombardment of the growing film also influences the hardness and structure of TiSiN films. The main objective of the present work was to tailor the nanostructure of TiSiN films by using the highly ionized fluxes of sputtered material generated in a HiPIMS discharge. For this purpose TiSiN films were deposited by DOMS (deep oscillation magnetron sputtering) mode. The energetic ion bombardment of the growing films was controlled by changing the peak power.