• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.809-816
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• 1995

Ti1-xAlxN films were successfully deposited on high speed steel and silicon wafer by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition using a TiCl4/AlCl3/N2/Ar/H2 gas mixture. Plasma process enabled N2 gas to nitride AlCl3, which is not possible in sense of thermodynamics. XPS analyses revealed that the deposited layer contained Al-N bond as well as Ti-N bond. Ti1-xAlxN films were polycrystalline and had single phase, B1-NaCl structure of TiN. Interplanar distance, d200, of (200) crystal plane of Ti1-xAlxN was, however, decreased with Al content, x. Al incorporation into TiN caused the grain size to be finer and changed strong (200) preferred orientation of TiN to random oriented microstructure. Those microstructural changes with Al addition resulted in the increase of micro-hardness of Ti1-xAlxN film up to 2800Kg/$\textrm{mm}^2$ compared with 1400Kg/$\textrm{mm}^2$ of TiN.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.525-531
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• 1996

(Ti1-xAlx)N films were deposited on high speed steel and silicon substrates by reactive sputtering in mixed $Ar-N_2$ discharges. Crystalline phases and microhardness of ($Ti_1_xAl_x$)N films were investigated with variation of the film composition and substrate RF bias voltage. With Al content x of about 0.6, crystalline phase of ( $Ti_1_xAl_x$N films was changed from single-phase NaCl structure to two phase mixture of NaCl and wurtzite structures: Microhardness of ($Ti_1_xAl_x$)N films was largely improved by applying RF bias voltage above 50 V during deposition. Hardness of ($Ti_1_xAl_x$)N films reached a maximum value for Al content x of about 0.4, and 1900 kg/$mm^2$ was obtained for 1$\mu m$-thick ($Ti_{0.6}Al_{0.4}$)N films.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.718-723
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• 2002

$Ti_{1-x}$ $Al_{ x}$N thin films as barrier layer for memory devices application were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. The crystallinity, micro-structure, oxidation resistance and oxidation mechanism of films were investigated as a function of Al content. Lattice parameter and grain size of thin films were decreased with increasing the Al content Oxidation of the film with higher Al content is slow and then, total oxide thickness is thinner than that of lower Al content film. Oxide layer formed on the surface is AlTiNO layer. Oxidation of $Ti_{1-x}$ /$Al_{x}$ N barrier layer is diffusion limited process and thickness of oxide layer with oxidation time increased with a parabolic law. The activation energy of oxygen diffusion, Ea and diffusion coefficient, D of $Ti_{0.74}$ /X$0.74_{0.26}$N film is 2.1eV and $10^{-16}$ ~$10^{-15}$ $\textrm{cm}^2$/s, respectively. $_Ti{1-x}$ /$Al_{x}$ XN barrier layer showed good oxidation resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.329-334
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• 2003

Microstructure and mechanical properties of $(Ti_{1-x}Alx)N$ films, Produced by the the Ion Beam Sputtering(IBS) method, were studied by changing the Ti, Al contents. The compositions of films determined by RBS were $(Ti_{0.75}Al_{0.25})N$, $(Ti_{0.61}Al_{0.39})N$ and $(Ti_{0.5}Al_{0.5})N$, and XPS binding energies of Ti2P, A12p and N1s shifted to higher energies than those of pure Ti, Al and N, which indicated that nitrides were formed. XRD results indicated that the NaCl structure for $$x{\leq_-}0.39$$ changed into amorphous structure at x=0.5. For films with $$x{\leq_-}0.39$$, the lattice parameter decreased in proportion to the Al content. Nanoindentation hardness value were above HV=3300 at Al content up to x=0.39. However, the hardness of films with x=0.5 abruptly decreased to HV=1800, and this lower hardness values were attributed to different crystal structure. Critical load(Lc) in scratch test showed 23N at x=0.25, 22N at x=0.39 and 22N at x=0.5, which indicated that films with different Al contents showed similar adhesion behavior.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 1996.11a
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• pp.144-145
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• 1996

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.435-444
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• 2001

WC-( $Ti_{1-x}$ A $l_{x}$) N coatings of constant changing Al concentration were deposited on S45C substrates by high-ionization sputtered PVD method. The Al concentration could be controlled by using evaporation source for Al and fixing the evaporation rate of the metals (i.e, WC- $Ti_{0.86}$A $l_{0.14}$N, WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N, and WC- $Ti_{0.58}$A $l_{0.42}$N). The corrosion behavior of WC-( $Ti_{1-x}$ A $l_{x}$)N coatings in a deaerated 3.5% NaCl solution was investigated by electrochemical corrosion tests and surface analyses. The measured galvanic corrosion currents between coating and substrate indicated that WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating showed the best resistance of the coating tested. The results of potentiodynamic polarization tests showed that the WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating deposited with 32W/c $m^2$ of Al target revealed higher corrosion resistance. This indicated that the WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating is effective in improving corrosion resistance. In EIS, the WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating showed one time constant loop and increased a polarization resistance of coating ( $R_{coat}$) relative to other samples. Compositional variations of WC-( $Ti_{1-x}$ A $l_{x}$)N coatings were analyzed by EDS and XRD analysis was performed to evaluate the crystal structure and compounds formation behavior. Surface morphologies of the films were observed using SEM and AFM. Scratch test was performed to measure film adhesion strength.strength. adhesion strength.strength.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.7
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• pp.688-694
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• 1999

Ti-6Al-4V-N films have been grown onto glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering from a Ti-6Al-4V-N alloy target at different nitrogen partial pressure, input powers and sputtering times. The influence of various sputtering conditions on structural properties of Ti-6Al-4V-N films was investigated by measuring their X-ray diffraction. The quaternary Ti-6Al-4V-N film is crystallizing in a face centered cubic TiN structure, the lattice parameter is smaller than the TiN parameter as titanium atoms of the TiN lattice are replaced by aluminum and vanadium atoms. The films show the (111) preferred orientation and the (111) peak intensity decreases as the nitrogen partial pressure is increased, but the intensity increases as the sputtering time is increased. The deposition rate and the grain size are alto related with the variation of various sputtering conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.281-287
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• 2005

Titanium aluminium nitride((TiAl)N) film is anticipated as an advanced coating film with wear resistance used for drills, bites etc. and with corrosion resistance at a high temperature. In this study, (TiAl)N thin films were deposited both at room temperature and at elevated substrate temperatures of 573 to 773 K by using a two-facing-targets type DC sputtering system in a mixture Ar and $N_2$ gases. Atomic compositions of the binary Ti-Al alloy target is Al-rich (25Ti-75Al (atm%)). Process parameters such as precursor volume %, substrate temperature and Ar/$N_2$ gas ratio were optimized. The crystallization processes and phase transformations of (TiAl)N thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The microhardness of (TiAl)N thin films were measured by a dynamic hardness tester. The films obtained with Ar/$N_2$ gas ratio of 1:3 and at 673 K substrate temperature showed the highest microhardness of $H_v$ 810. The crystallized and phase transformations of (TiAl)N thin films were $Ti_2AlN+AlN{\rightarrow}TiN+AlN$ for Ar/$N_2$ gas ratio of 1:3, $Ti_2AlN+AlN{\rightarrow}TiN+AlN{\rightarrow}Ti_2AlN+TiN+AlN$ for Ar/$N_2$ gas ratio of 1:1 and $TiN+AlN{\rightarrow}Ti_2AlN+TiN+AlN{\rightarrow}Ti_2AlN+AlN{\rightarrow}Ti_2AlN+TiN+AlN$ for Ar/$N_2$ gas ratio of 3:1. The above results are discussed in terms of crystallized phases and microhardness.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics D
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• v.36D no.7
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• pp.17-25
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• 1999

Tungsten nitride($WN_x$) films were deposited by PECVD method on silicon nitride($WSi_3N_4$) substrate. The characteristics of $WN_x$ film were investigated with changing various processing parameters ; substrate temperature, gas flow rate, rf power, and different nitrogen sources. The nitrogen composition in $WN_x$ film varied from 0 to 45% according to the $NH_3$ and $N_2$ flow rate. The highest deposition rate of 160 nm/min was obtained for the $NH_3$ gas and relatively low deposition rate of $WN_x$ films were formed by $N_2$ gas. $WN_x$ films deposited on $WSi_3N_4$ substrate had higher deposition rate than that of TiN and Si substrates. The purity of $WN_x$ film were analyzed by AES and higher purity $WN_x$ films were deposited using $NH_3$ gas. The XRD analysis indicates a phase transition from polycrystalline tungsten(W) to amorphous tungsten nitride($WN_x$), showing improved etching profile of $WN_x$ films Thick $WN_x$ films were deposited on various substrates such as Tin, NiCr and Al and maximum thickness of $1.6 {\mu}m$ was obtained on the Al adhesion layer.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.681-685
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• 2012

We investigated the dry etching characteristics of TiN in $TiN/Al_2O_3$ gate stack using a inductively coupled plasma system. TiN thin film is etched by BCl3/He plasma. The etching parameters are the gas mixing ratio, the RF power, the DC-bias voltages and process pressures. The highest etch rate is in $BCl_3/He$ (25%:75%) plasma. The selectivity of TiN thin film to $Al_2O_3$ is pretty similar with $BCl_3/He$ plasma. The chemical reactions of the etched TiN thin films are investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The intensities of the Ti 2p and the N 1s peaks are modified by $BCl_3$ plasma. Intensity and binding energy of Ti and N could be changed due to a chemical reaction on the surface of TiN thin films. Also we investigated that the non-volatile byproducts such as $TiCl_x$ formed by chemical reaction with Cl radicals on the surface of TiN thin films.