On the grain size-thickness correlation for thin films

Dulmaa, A.; Cougnon, Florian; Dedoncker, Robin; Depla, Diederik

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2021.116896

Cited by 48 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The grain size was determined by transmission electron microscopy. As discussed by Dulmaa et al [ 18 ], a good agreement between the grain size measured with TEM and the domain size measured with XRD is found for small grains. The data of Tang et al are in the same range as our value.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

“…As discussed in [ 18 , 19 ], the influence of the embedded impurities on the microstrain is negligible. Hence, based on curve-fitting of the same peak using a Lorentzian profile, the FWHM was determined and the domain size was calculated using the Scherrer equation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Air was leaked into the vacuum chamber during the deposition of aluminum using a needle valve. The impurity flux was calculated from the base pressure prior to the deposition, as discussed in [ 18 , 19 ]. The aluminum metal flux was calculated based on the film thickness and the film density.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of Impurities on the Front Velocity of Sputter Deposited Al/CuO Thermite Multilayers

Dulmaa

Depla

2021

Materials

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CuO and Al thin films were successively deposited using direct current (reactive) magnetron sputter deposition. A multilayer of five bilayers was deposited on glass, which can be ignited by heating a Ti resistive thin film. The velocity of the reaction front which propagates along the multilayer was optically determined using a high-speed camera. During the deposition of the aluminum layers, air was intentionally leaked into the vacuum chamber to introduce impurities in the film. Depositions at different impurity/metal flux ratios were performed. The front velocity reaches a value of approximately 20 m/s at low flux ratios but drops to approximately 7 m/s at flux ratios between 0.6 and 1. The drop is rather abrupt as the front velocity stays constant above flux ratios larger than 1. This behavior is explained based on the hindrance of the oxygen transport from the oxidizer (CuO) to the fuel (Al).

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of Impurities on the Front Velocity of Sputter Deposited Al/CuO Thermite Multilayers

Dulmaa

Depla

2021

Materials

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“…The microstructure, mechanical and tribological behavior are strongly related to N 2 /Ar flow ratios during deposition. Different nitrogen contents cause changes in the crystal lattices and width of the constituent columns growing perpendicular to the substrate [ 22 , 23 ]. CrN coatings exhibit interesting electrical and magnetic properties due to semiconductor behavior and magnetic ordering, thus becoming a promising coating in magnetic semiconductor thinner applications [ 6 , 22 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Nitrogen and Yttrium Contents in Manufacturing (Cr, Y)Nx Film Nanostructures

et al. 2022

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The high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technique was applied to deposit multilayer-like (Cr, Y)Nx coatings on AISI 304L stainless steel, using pendular substrate oscillation and a Cr-Y target and varying the nitrogen flow rate from 10 to 50 sccm. The microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties were investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, instrumented nano-hardness, and wear tests. The columnar grain structure became highly segmented and nanosized due to pendular substrate oscillation and the addition of yttrium. The deposition rate increased continuously with the growing nitrogen flow rate. The increase in nitrogen flow from 10 to 50 sccm increased the hardness of the coatings (Cr, Y)Nx, with a maximum hardness value of 32.7 GPa for the coating (Cr, Y)Nx with a nitrogen flow of 50 sccm, which greatly surpasses the hardness of CrN films with multilayer-like (Cr, Y)Nx coatings architecture. The best mechanical and tribological performance was achieved for a nitrogen flow rate of 50 sccm. This was enabled by more elevated compressive stresses and impact energies of the impinging ions during film growth, owing to an increase of HiPIMS peak voltage with a rising N2/Ar ratio.

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“…This can be understood from realizing that the grain density ρ increases monotonically as n r /g r increases and that, at film closure, the characteristic length of grains and the film thickness decrease monotonically as ρ increases. In general, the characteristic length after film closure is correlated with the thickness of the film depending on the dominant growth and restructuring mechanisms [20,21]. A prime example of process for which n r /g r is too small to form films in the submicron scale is provided by the chemical vapor deposition of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) [22][23][24][25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and morphology of closed and porous films grown from grains seeded on substrates: Two-dimensional simulations

Janssens,

Vázquez-Cortés,

Fried

2021

Preprint

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Two-dimensional simulations are used to explore topological transitions that occur during the formation of films grown from grains that are seeded on substrates. This is done for a relatively large range of the initial value Φ s of the grain surface fraction Φ. The morphology of porous films is captured at the transition when grains connect to form a one-component network using newly developed raster-free algorithms that combine computational geometry and network theory. Further insight on the morphology of porous films and their suspended counterparts is obtained by studying the pore surface fraction Φ p , the pore over grain ratio, the pore area distribution, and the contribution of pores of certain chosen areas to Φ p . Pinhole survival is evaluated at the transition when film closure occurs using survival function estimates. The morphology of closed films (Φ = 1) is also characterized and is quantified by measuring grain areas and perimeters. The majority of investigated quantities are found to depend sensitively on Φ s and the long-time persistence of pinholes exhibits critical behavior as a function of Φ s . In addition to providing guidelines for designing effective processes for manufacturing thin films and suspended porous films with tailored properties, this work may advance the understanding of continuum percolation theory.

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On the grain size-thickness correlation for thin films

Cited by 48 publications

References 52 publications

Influence of Impurities on the Front Velocity of Sputter Deposited Al/CuO Thermite Multilayers

Influence of Impurities on the Front Velocity of Sputter Deposited Al/CuO Thermite Multilayers

Role of Nitrogen and Yttrium Contents in Manufacturing (Cr, Y)Nx Film Nanostructures

Formation and morphology of closed and porous films grown from grains seeded on substrates: Two-dimensional simulations

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