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Structural Investigation of AlN/SiOx Nanocomposite Hard Coatings Fabricated by Differential Pumping Cosputtering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Masahiro Kawasaki Open the ORCID record for Masahiro Kawasaki [Opens in a new window] ,
Masateru Nose ,
Ichiro Onishi  and
Makoto Shiojiri
Masahiro Kawasaki*
Affiliation:
JEOL USA Inc., 11 Dearborn Road, Peabody, MA 01960, USA
Masateru Nose*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Art and Design, University of Toyama, Takaoka 933-8588, Japan
Ichiro Onishi
Affiliation:
JEOL Ltd., 3-1-2 Musashino, Akishima, Tokyo 196-8558, Japan
Makoto Shiojiri*
Affiliation:
Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. kawasaki@jeol.com; shiojiri@pc4.so-net.ne.jp
*Corresponding author. kawasaki@jeol.com; shiojiri@pc4.so-net.ne.jp
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Abstract

AlN/SiOx nanocomposite coatings fabricated by differential pumping cosputtering (DPCS) were investigated by analytical electron microscopy. The DPCS system consists of two halves of a Chamber, A and B, for radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering deposition of different materials, and a substrate holder that rotates through the chambers. Al and SiO2 were sputtered in gas environments with a flow mixture of N2 and Ar gases at RF power of 200 W in the Al Chamber A and a flow of Ar gas at RF powers of 49 W in the SiO2 Chamber B. The substrates of (001) Si wafers heated at 250°C were rotated for 1,080 min at 3 rpm and alternately deposited by AlN and SiO2. AlN columnar crystals grew at a rate of ~0.3 nm/revolution preferentially along the hexagonal [0001] axis. Amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiOx), deposited at a rate of ~0.2 nm/revolution, was coagulated preferentially along the boundaries between the AlN columns and also the interfaces between the subgrains within the AlN columns. The a-SiOx played an important role in the increase in mechanical hardness of the AlN/SiOx composite coating by disturbing deformation of AlN crystal lattices.

Keywords

hard coatingAlN/SiOxsputteringanalytical electron microscopy
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 673 - 678
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2016

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Footnotes

†

Current address: 1-297 Wakiyama, Kyoto 618-0091, Japan.

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