Abstract
Superhard cubic boron nitride (cBN) thin films can be synthesized nowadays by a variety of PVD and PECVD techniques. Their applications are however still impeded by extremely high film stresses, typically above 20GPa, resulting from a severe ion bombardment of the growing surface being obligatory for the formation of the cubic phase. This stress was shown to be partly released by an addition of oxygen during film deposition, with deposited films containing approx. 5at.% of oxygen embedded into the cubic lattice. In this study, further impacts on the stress of such oxygen-incorporated cBN films (cBN:O) are studied by means of post-deposition high-energy implantation of oxygen-, neon-, and krypton-ions, respectively. It is shown, in particular, that the irradiation by krypton ions at 600K temperature can produce a significant stress reduction of cBN:O from 10GPa down to 4GPa, without inducing observable transformation of existing cubic structure into the hexagonal phase.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call