Influence of plasma density on the chemical composition and structural properties of pulsed laser deposited TiAlN thin films

Journal Article · Thu May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4879025· OSTI ID:22300296

Quiñones-Galván, J. G.; Camps, Enrique ^[1]; Muhl, S. ^[2]; Flores, M. ^[3]; Campos-González, E. ^[4]

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1. Departamento de Física, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Apartado Postal 18-1027, México D.F. C.P. 11801 (Mexico)
2. Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, UNAM, México D.F. C.P. 04510 (Mexico)
3. Departamento de Ingeniería de Proyectos, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Apdo. Postal 307, C.P. 45101 Zapopan, Jalisco (Mexico)
4. Departamento de Física, CINVESTAV-IPN, Apdo. Postal 14-740, México D.F. 07360 (Mexico)

Incorporation of substitutional Al into the TiN lattice of the ternary alloy TiAlN results in a material with improved properties compared to TiN. In this work, TiAlN thin films were grown by the simultaneous ablation of Ti and Al targets in a nitrogen containing reactive atmosphere. The deposit was formed on silicon substrates at low deposition temperature (200 °C). The dependence of the Al content of the films was studied as a function of the ion density of the plasma produced by the laser ablation of the Al target. The plasma parameters were measured by means of a planar Langmuir probe and optical emission spectroscopy. The chemical composition of the films was measured by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results showed a strong dependence of the amount of aluminum incorporated in the films with the plasma density. The structural characterization of the deposits was carried out by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy, where the substitutional incorporation of the Al into the TiN was demonstrated.

• OSTI ID: 22300296
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 21; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ABLATION
ALUMINIUM
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DEPOSITION
DEPOSITS
EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY
LANGMUIR PROBE
LASERS
NITROGEN
PLASMA DENSITY
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
SILICON
SUBSTRATES
TERNARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
THIN FILMS
TITANIUM NITRIDES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY