A Study on the properties of aluminum nitride films on the Al7075 deposited by pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering

Aluminum alloys are widely known as non-ferrous metal with light weight and high strength. Consequently, these materials take center stage in the aircraft and automobile industry. The Al7075 aluminum alloy is based on the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu and one of the strongest wrought aluminum alloys. Aluminum nitride has ten times higher thermal conductivity($319W/m{\cdot}K$) than Al2O3 and also has outstanding electric insulation($1{\times}1014{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$). Furthermore, it has high mechanical property (430 MPa) even though its co-efficient of thermal expansion is less than alumina For these reasons, it has great possibilities to be used for not only the field which needs high strength lightweight but also electronic material field because of its suitability to be applied to the insulator film of PCB or wafer of ceramic with high heat conduction. This paper investigates the mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of aluminum alloy Al7075 deposited with aluminum nitride thin films To improve the surface properties of Al7075 with respect to hardness, and resistance to corrosion, aluminum nitride thin films have been deposited by pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The pulsed DC power provides arc-free deposition of insulating films.