TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of temperature and deposition power on microstructure and properties of magnetron sputtered thin AlN coatings
AU - Lapitskaya, Vasilina
AU - Nikolaev, Andrey
AU - Khabarava, Anastasiya
AU - Sadyrin, Evgeniy
AU - Aizikovich, Sergei
AU - Azoyan, Anaid
AU - Kotov, Dmitry
AU - Chizhik, Sergei
AU - Yu, Guangbin
AU - Sun, Weifu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s).
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - This paper demonstrates the influence of deposition parameters (temperature, power and time) and stoichiometric composition of thin aluminum nitride (AlN) coatings, the thickness of which varied from 320 to 1100nm deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering on their microstructure, mechanical and microtribological properties. The investigation revealed that high-deposition power (150 W) and temperature (200°C) lead to sputtering of coatings with high roughness, low mechanical and high microtribological properties. Such a phenomenon occurred due to the formation of a coarse-grained structure, high porosity and dendritic growth of the coating, which was observed on their cross-sections. Reducing the deposition temperature to 20°C and power to 80-100 W allowed to obtain a fine-crystalline structure demonstrating low-roughness values with crystallites evenly and compactly distributed over the surface. Such coatings showed higher mechanical and low microtribological properties. Surface resistivity was lower on coatings with a fine crystalline structure and correlated with the nitrogen content of the coating. In the course of the research, it was demonstrated that the optimal combination of microstructure, mechanical, microtribological properties and electrical resistivity for practical use in micro- and nanosensory applications may be achieved for the AlN coating with the thickness of 320nm and 29.71 at.% N, deposited at 20°C, 100 W and 20 min. Such a coating possesses the highest values of mechanical properties, low roughness and specific surface resistance, as well as low coefficient of friction and specific volumetric wear compared to all coatings under study.
AB - This paper demonstrates the influence of deposition parameters (temperature, power and time) and stoichiometric composition of thin aluminum nitride (AlN) coatings, the thickness of which varied from 320 to 1100nm deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering on their microstructure, mechanical and microtribological properties. The investigation revealed that high-deposition power (150 W) and temperature (200°C) lead to sputtering of coatings with high roughness, low mechanical and high microtribological properties. Such a phenomenon occurred due to the formation of a coarse-grained structure, high porosity and dendritic growth of the coating, which was observed on their cross-sections. Reducing the deposition temperature to 20°C and power to 80-100 W allowed to obtain a fine-crystalline structure demonstrating low-roughness values with crystallites evenly and compactly distributed over the surface. Such coatings showed higher mechanical and low microtribological properties. Surface resistivity was lower on coatings with a fine crystalline structure and correlated with the nitrogen content of the coating. In the course of the research, it was demonstrated that the optimal combination of microstructure, mechanical, microtribological properties and electrical resistivity for practical use in micro- and nanosensory applications may be achieved for the AlN coating with the thickness of 320nm and 29.71 at.% N, deposited at 20°C, 100 W and 20 min. Such a coating possesses the highest values of mechanical properties, low roughness and specific surface resistance, as well as low coefficient of friction and specific volumetric wear compared to all coatings under study.
KW - AlN coating
KW - magnetron sputtering
KW - mechanical and microtribological properties
KW - microstructure
KW - specific electrical resistivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105000609989&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1142/S2010135X25400041
DO - 10.1142/S2010135X25400041
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105000609989
SN - 2010-135X
JO - Journal of Advanced Dielectrics
JF - Journal of Advanced Dielectrics
M1 - 2540004
ER -