Low temperature fabrication of ceramic film by ICVD method using ion beam

Abstract

Interface controlled vapor deposition (ICVD) is a new fabrication method for ceramic thin films that has been developed to achieve both low temperature fabrication and control of the film crystallinity and orientation. The ICVD method makes these possible by strict control of the interface conditions between the substrate and the thin film using an ion beam. This method was applied to the fabrication of zirconium nitride (ZrN) film. The ICVD method consists of two different steps. In the first step, a modification layer is formed by evaporating zirconium under simultaneous nitrogen ion irradiation. In the second step, evaporation alone is continued in a nitrogen atmosphere in order to deposit a second layer. Using this method, ZrN film with good adherence was fabricated at room temperature, and its crystallinity and orientation were controllable. This film was also confirmed to be a hard ceramic film with a value of 1600 Hv. Furthermore, a high quality ceramic coated shaver foil with excellent properties was developed by the ICVD method.