Crossover of texture and morphology in (Ti1−xAlx)1−yYyN alloy films and the pathway of structure evolution

Abstract

In our earlier published work, we have shown that there is a composition range of the (Ti 1 − x Al x ) 1 − y Y y N alloy films (0.72 b Ti/Al b 0.88) deposited at oblique vapour beam incidence and 500°C (corresponding to zone T) in which mixed cubic TiN (c-TiN) and wurtzite AlN (w-AlN) structures were formed together with an unusual complex texture. The texture of c-TiN phase changed from 〈001〉 to b111N at a certain thickness forming a definite crossover. Moreover the c-TiNb111N and the w-AlN〈0001〉 crystals were epitaxially related with axes tilted to the direction of the vapour beam. Based on a comprehensive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffraction (XRD and selected area electron diffraction (SAED)) structure and morphology analysis, we discovered the details of this exotic structure making it possible to construct the complex pathway of structure evolution including the formation of the w-AlN phase and the change of the dominating texture of c-TiN phase with thickness in dependence of the Ti/Al ratio and the deposition parameters. This pathway could be deduced from the fundamental phenomena of structure formation and may be generalised for multi-component thin film systems. A composition structure zone model has been also proposed for the (Ti 1 − x Al x ) 1 − y Y y N thin film system in the 0 b x b 1 composition range.

Pattern Center and Distortion Determined from Faint, Diffuse Electron Diffraction Rings from Amorphous Materials

“…A more important example is shown in Figure 1. The sample is the same, which is used in a publication of Barna’s group (Székely et al, 2014). It is shown in Lábár (2008, 2009) that phase fractions and preferentially oriented (textured) fractions can be determined from the rotationally averaged continuous rings recorded from nc thin films.…”

Three-dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of cubic transition metal nitride thin film growth

“…Depending on the deposition conditions and extent of chemical alloying, ternary (or quaternary) TMN thin films may be synthesized, forming either a metastable cubic solid solution with NaCl structure, or a biphase nanocomposite structure [23,24] as a result of segregation of one film forming species [25,26]. In addition to elastic anisotropy at the single-crystal level [27][28][29], ductility trends in polycrystalline TMNs were shown to be affected by the film microstructure and preferred orientation [18], which can vary significantly with film thickness [30,31].…”