Hard boron{endash}suboxide-based films deposited in a sputter-sourced, high-density plasma deposition system
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)
- Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)
- Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551 (United States)
Boron{endash}suboxide-based thin films have been deposited on Si in an electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma using a radio frequency (rf) magnetron as a source of boron. Variations of the oxygen fraction in the deposition ambient and of the rf bias applied to the substrate were related to film tribology. The best films have hardnesses of {approximately}28GPa and moduli of {approximately}240GPa and were deposited in oxygen fractions {lt}1{percent} at substrate temperatures {lt}350{degree}C. The films contain 4{percent}{endash}15{percent} O and {approximately}15{percent}C, with carbon originating from the sputter target. They are amorphous and have surface roughnesses of {approximately}0.2nm. Boron{endash}oxide films may form a self-generating lubricating layer of B(OH){sub 3} in ambient atmosphere. Compositional depth profiling of these films reveals an oxygen-enriched surface of {approximately}10nm thickness. Initial nanoscratch test results indicate that these films fail at high critical loads and have low friction coefficients relative to other hard coatings. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Vacuum Society.}
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-96OR22464
- OSTI ID:
- 550412
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, A, Vol. 15, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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