Reactive-magnetron-sputtered chromium carbide films

Phase composition of Cr-C thin films deposited by a double magnetron sputtering system

“…Detailed analysis of the composite peaks including profile decomposition using the strongest lines of the three main Cr-C crystalline phases-the (110) Table 1), in agreement with the performed SEM analysis 14 that showed very flat surfaces and with the data of other authors. 1,8 The microhardness of the sample with ¾10 at.% carbon is H D 2800 HV, and this sample exhibited a very high adhesion to the glass substrate. The films with a carbon concentration of >60 at.% (sample G) have XRD patterns that are almost identical to the substrate diffraction pattern.…”

“…19 Sample B has a Cr 2p line similar to that of sample C, which is narrower than these of the previous two samples because of the lower carbide content. All the C 1s spectra shown contain a peak at ¾283 eV corresponding to carbon in the carbide state 1,18,19 [ Fig. 4(b)].…”

“…A rastered 3 keV Ar ion beam at 50°t owards the surface normal was used for sputter depth profiling. The sputtering rate of SiO 2 at the specified experimental conditions is ¾0.015 nm s 1 . The electrical resistivity of the films was determined at room temperature by four-point probe measurements, the film morphology was studied by SEM 14 and the Vickers microhardness measurements 15 were performed with a load of 5 g for selected thin-film samples in the low-carbon concentration range.…”

“…The phase formation in Cr-C thin films deposited by different methods has been studied by a number of authors but the investigated compositional interval for each study is relatively small. The low-carbon compositional interval was investigated by Aubert, 1,5 who deposited films by reactive d.c. sputtering in an Ar-methane atmosphere (Ä8 at.% carbon), and by Agarval, 2,6 who used sputtering in an Ar-acetylene atmosphere (Ä20 at.% carbon). The high-carbon compositional interval was investigated by Bewilogua 7 with films deposited by evaporation of Cr in a benzene atmosphere (50-70 at.% carbon), and the middle compositional interval was the object of investigation by Marechal 3 using r.f.…”

Effect of reactive gas pressure on the plasma parameters during triode ion plating of Cr−C films

“…very low friction coefficient and moderate corrosive resistance [3,4]. Properties (microstructure, chemical composition and mechanical properties) of PVD deposited Cr-C thin films strongly depend on the deposition parameters especially on the partial pressure of reactive gas (C 2 H 2 ) as studied already by [5][6][7].…”