Effect of bias voltage on microstructure and properties of magnetron sputtering TaN coating

Abstract

A series of TaN films were coated on Al2O3 at various bias voltages by magnetron sputtering technique. Effect of bias voltage on the microstructure, roughness, deposition rate, binding force of coating-substrate, electrical properties of the TaN coating were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), profile meter, scratch tester and four points probe respectively. The results suggest that the TaN coating were formed by face-center δ-TaN crystals and the preferential orientation of the coatings varied with the bias voltage; the deposition rate and the binding force of coating-substrate reached maximum value of 5.71nm/min and 4.5N when the bias voltage was 80 V, the roughness and the square resistance reached the minimum value of 0.509nm and 15.58Ω/□