Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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MM: Fachverband Metall- und Materialphysik

MM 19: Topical Session: Combinatorial Materials Science I

MM 19.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 11:15–11:30, H25

Microstructure formation of magnetron sputtered Cr-V-O thin films in dependance of chemical composition — •Stefanie Spitz, Michael Stüber, Harald Leiste, and Sven Ulrich — Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Applied Materials (IAM-AWP), 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

The system Cr-V-O is of interest for the development of novel oxide thin films due to the ability of Cr and V to build the corundum-type structure if the oxygen supply is sufficient. Utilizing a combinatorial approach for thin film synthesis in magnetron sputtering, different Cr-V-O coatings with a wide range of compositions from Cr-rich to V-rich could be deposited in one process. An r.f. power of 500 W was applied at a segmented Cr-V target. The substrate temperature was 350 ^∘C. The total gas pressure was kept constant at 0.4 Pa. Additionally, a substrate bias voltage up to -100 V was applied.

The elemental composition was analysed by EPMA. For thin films sputtered with 0 V bias Cr:V ratios of 7.4, 2.0 and 0.6 were obtained. The metal:non-metal concentration ratio shifted from 2:3 (for Cr-rich coatings) to about 2:5 (for V-rich coatings). XRD analyses indicate a nanocrystalline (Cr,V)₂O₃ solid solution in corundum-type structure for a Cr:V ratio of 7.4. The coatings with the highest V content were X-ray amorphous. Applying only a small bias voltage almost doubles the hardness values to maximum 21 GPa.