Abstract

Thin films of zirconium nitride were deposited on different substrates by direct current reactive magnetron sputtering, varying the deposition time, Ar/N 2 partial pressure ratio and substrate temperature. The physicochemical, crystalline structure and corrosion resistance of the thin films were studied by glancing angle X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization tests in artificial saliva solution. The results show that the thin films presents high texture in [1 1 1] direction verified by X-ray diffraction measurements which indicated the lack of a Bragg peak for (2 0 0) crystallographic planes for a lower deposition temperatures. The XPS analysis showed the presence of ZrN and also the oxide species (ZrN x O y and ZrO 2) at the surface, with chemical states changing with deposition temperatures. In addition, the thin ZrN films were found to be stable in an electrochemical cell over a large potential range and the pitting potential increases with increasing the deposition temperature. For deposition at 500 °C, the pitting potential was found to be E p = 1.5 V/SCE. The corrosion behavior is attributed to the formation of thin ZrN x O y and ZrO 2 layer on the top surface of the films, with increasing of the deposition temperature.

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