Epitaxial stabilization of cubic-SiN{sub x} in TiN/SiN{sub x} multilayers
- Division of Engineering Materials, Luleaa University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleaa (Sweden)
The formation of cubic-phase SiN{sub x} is demonstrated in TiN/SiN{sub x} multilayers deposited by reactive dual magnetron sputtering. Transmission electron microscopy examination shows a transition from epitaxially stabilized growth of crystalline SiN{sub x} to amorphous growth as the layer thickness increases from 0.3 to 0.8 nm. The observations are supported by ab initio calculations on different polytypes, which show that the NaCl structure has the best lattice match to TiN. Calculations also reveal a large difference in elastic shear modulus between NaCl-SiN{sub x} and TiN. The results for phase structure and shear modulus offer an explanation for the superhardening effect determined by nanoindentation experiments.
- OSTI ID:
- 20779290
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 19; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2202145; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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