Abstract
Abstract The physical and chemical properties of multifunctional materials have been extensively studied in the last few years especially the mechanical and tribological applications and less attention has taken the electrical and optical properties. Therefore, in this work presents the growth of (Al, Ti, Si)N films deposited on common glass substrates with a maximum thickness of 1024 nm, via reactive DC magnetron sputtering, to analyze the influence of the silicon content on their crystallographic structure, optic and electric behavior. The microstructure of the films was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The films morphology was evaluated through scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The optical measurements were carried out by means UV-vis spectroscopy, and the electrical properties were analyzed using a four-point probe. XRD analysis indicated that the films changed from a crystalline phase to an amorphous phase, and the electrical and optical response indicated that the films with higher Si content have l223.6 Ω.cm of resistivity with an energy gap of approximately 1.0 eV and an optical energy gap of 1.5 eV. This electrical property has not been previously reported in these films.
Highlights
Ceramic films of transition metal nitrides grown via Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) have been widely used in various engineering applications
In this work, (Al,Ti,Si)N films were grown via reactive DC magnetron sputtering, and their electrical and optical properties were evaluated as a function of their Si content
This morphology is typical of the films deposited with sputtering technique
Summary
Ceramic films of transition metal nitrides grown via Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) have been widely used in various engineering applications. A chemical element that has been widely used is silicon (Si)[20,21,22,23] The addition of this element to the nitride atomic lattice has shown that it affects the morphology, microstructure and functional properties of the coating due to the formation of a nanocomposite structure, which consists of two phases, a nanocrystalline and another amorphous[24]. These materials have been shown to have a combination of excellent mechanical properties (high hardness and fracture toughness), high thermal stability, high oxidation resistance, high corrosion resistance and good tribological properties (friction coefficients between 0.5 to 0.7) compared to transition metal nitrides[25,26]. In this work, (Al,Ti,Si)N films were grown via reactive DC magnetron sputtering, and their electrical and optical properties were evaluated as a function of their Si content
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