Hydrogenation and hybridization in hard W-C:H coatings prepared by hybrid PVD-PECVD method with methane and acetylene

High Performance Power Supplies for Plasma Materials Processing

“…In this process, short (10 − 100 µs) impulses having a very high peak power (0.5 − 6 MW ) are delivered to a standard magnetron target, while the average power delivered to the target is kept at a level typical for magnetron sputtering processes (up to 60 kW ). The high pulse power permits a high ionization of the sputtered material (up to 90%), and for this reason the method is widely used for the deposition of high-density, durable industrial coatings [28] including Diamond-Like Carbon films [29], deep trench filling and TSV structures in the semiconductor industry [30]. The results of TSV metallization performed with an industrial HIPIMS TruPlasma Highpulse 4002 (G2) power supply are presented in Figs.…”

Hardness of Hybrid PVD-Pecvd W-C:h Coatings vs. Substrate Type

“…A set of 14 coatings with variable additions of C 2 H 2 precursor (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 sccm) and (0, 5, 10, 20 sccm) into Ar atmosphere was prepared for the study. The thicknesses of the coatings were in the range from 0.7 µm up to almost 3 µm depending on the amount of precursor gas additions [15][16][17][18]. The nanoindentation tests were carried out on a nanoindenter (model G200, Agilent, USA) using a diamond Berkovich tip in CSM mode with the preset maximum penetration depth of 1000 nm, strain rate of 0.05 s −1 , frequency of 45 Hz and amplitude of 2 nm on a set of 16 indents.…”

“…They involve the effects of substrate type but also of acetylene and hydrogen additions during hybrid PVD-PECVD. The PVD process without additional precursor gases resulted in (possibly over-stoichiometric [18]) WC coatings exhibiting much lower values of hardness (22 GPa) and modulus (< 220 GPa) in the coatings deposited on Al alloy substrates than on Si and steel substrates (26 -29 GPa and 280 -340 GPa, respectively). It is known from earlier works on DC magnetron sputtered and HiPIMS W-C:H coatings [17,18] that the structure of the PVD coatings without additions of acetylene may vary from nano-columnar to nanocrystalline, which resulted in the variations of hardness from 34 GPa to 28 GPa, respectively.…”

“…The PVD process without additional precursor gases resulted in (possibly over-stoichiometric [18]) WC coatings exhibiting much lower values of hardness (22 GPa) and modulus (< 220 GPa) in the coatings deposited on Al alloy substrates than on Si and steel substrates (26 -29 GPa and 280 -340 GPa, respectively). It is known from earlier works on DC magnetron sputtered and HiPIMS W-C:H coatings [17,18] that the structure of the PVD coatings without additions of acetylene may vary from nano-columnar to nanocrystalline, which resulted in the variations of hardness from 34 GPa to 28 GPa, respectively. The additions of acetylene caused gradual increase of the content of hydrogenated free carbon phase and a transition from nanocomposite to amorphous structure accompanied by a decrease of hardness [16][17][18].…”

“…It is known from earlier works on DC magnetron sputtered and HiPIMS W-C:H coatings [17,18] that the structure of the PVD coatings without additions of acetylene may vary from nano-columnar to nanocrystalline, which resulted in the variations of hardness from 34 GPa to 28 GPa, respectively. The additions of acetylene caused gradual increase of the content of hydrogenated free carbon phase and a transition from nanocomposite to amorphous structure accompanied by a decrease of hardness [16][17][18]. The substrate itself may also play significant role in the formation of the coating structure and its morphology [15].…”