Boron-Nitride films are of interest for their high hardness and wear resistance. Large intrinsic stresses and poor adhesion which often accompany high hardness materials can be moderated through the use of a layered structure. Alternate layers of boron (B) and boron-nitride (BN) are formed by modulating the composition of the sputter gas during deposition from a pure B target. The thin films are characterized with TEM to evaluate the microstructure and with nanoindentation to determine hardness. Layer pair spacing and continuity effects on hardness are evaluated for the B/BN films.
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