Study of titanium–nitrogen films deposited in an electron beam evaporation unit

Abstract

Comparative studies were performed on the chemical composition, crystal structure, adhesion, and color of titanium–nitrogen films prepared by an electron beam thermal evaporation process. Several parameters, deposition rate, nitrogen flow rate, substrate temperature, and nitrogen inlet location, were varied during sample preparation. The composition of the films was determined by electron probe microanalysis, the crystal structure by grazing angle x-ray diffraction, and the adhesion characteristics by scratch test analysis. Glass substrates were used to allow for visual inspection of the substrate–film interface layer. Titanium–nitrogen films with nitrogen contents varying between 7.61 and 32.5 wt % were produced. Over this range, three structures were deposited: α-TiN0.3 for low nitrogen contents, Ti2N for films of 12.2–13.1 wt % nitrogen, and TiN for films with higher nitrogen contents. The films exhibited a wide range of colors that could be related to other properties such as nitrogen content and adhesion.