A new nanocomposite, titanium aluminum carbonitride/amorphous-carbon thin film was prepared by radio-frequency (rf) plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition using titanium tetrachloride, aluminum trichloride, methane, and nitrogen as reactants. Hydrogen was used as carrier gases. A substrate temperature of 500 °C and an rf power of 100 W were used in all depositions. The films were characterized by x-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that nanograins of titanium aluminum carbonitride were embedded in an amorphous-carbon matrix. The nanograins had a (200) preferred orientation with columnar cross-section morphology. Mechanical properties were analyzed by nanoindentation and hardness was demonstrated to increase via this microstructure design approach. The effects of microstructure on mechanical properties were also determined.
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January 2002
Research Article|
January 01 2002
Plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition of titanium aluminum carbonitride/amorphous-carbon nanocomposite thin films
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 20, 87–92 (2002)
Article history
Received:
March 08 2001
Accepted:
October 08 2001
Citation
Jiann ShiehMin Hsiung Hon; Plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition of titanium aluminum carbonitride/amorphous-carbon nanocomposite thin films. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 January 2002; 20 (1): 87–92. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1424271
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