| 1. |
- Hänninen, Tuomas, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Silicon carbonitride thin films deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering
- 2018
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Ingår i: Surface & Coatings Technology. - : Elsevier. - 0257-8972 .- 1879-3347. ; 335, s. 248-256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Amorphous silicon carbonitride thin films for biomedical applications were deposited in an industrial coating unit from a silicon target in different argon/nitrogen/acetylene mixtures by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (rHiPIMS). The effects of acetylene (C2H2) flow rate, substrate temperature, substrate bias voltage, and HiPIMS pulse frequency on the film properties were investigated. Low C2H2 flow rates (<10 sccm) resulted in silicon nitride-like film properties, seen from a dense morphology when viewed in cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, a hardness up to ∼22 GPa as measured by nanoindentation, and Si-N bonds dominating over Si-C bonds in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy core-level spectra. Higher C2H2 flows resulted in increasingly amorphous carbon-like film properties, with a granular appearance of the film morphology, mass densities below 2 g/cm3 as measured by X-ray reflectivity, and a hardness down to 4.5 GPa. Increasing substrate temperatures and bias voltages resulted in slightly higher film hardnesses and higher compressive residual stresses. The film H/E ratio showed a maximum at film carbon contents ranging between 15 and 30 at.% and at elevated substrate temperatures from 340 °C to 520 °C.
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| 2. |
- Hänninen, Tuomas, 1988-
(författare)
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Silicon Nitride Based Coatings Grown by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Silicon nitride and silicon nitride-based ceramics have several favorable material properties, such as high hardness and good wear resistance, which makes them important materials for the coating industry. This thesis focuses the synthesis of silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, and silicon carbonitride thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering. The films were characterized based on their chemical composition, chemical bonding structure, and mechanical properties to link the growth conditions to the film properties. Silicon nitride films were synthesized by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) from a Si target in Ar/N2 atmospheres, whereas silicon oxynitride films were grown by using nitrous oxide as the reactive gas. Silicon carbonitride was synthesized by two different methods. The first method was using acetylene (C2H2) in addition to N2 in a Si HiPIMS process and the other was co-sputtering of Si and C, using HiPIMS for Si and direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) for graphite targets in an Ar/N2 atmosphere. Langmuir probe measurements were carried out for the silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride processes and positive ion mass spectrometry for the silicon nitride processes to gain further understanding on the plasma conditions during film growth. The target current and voltage waveforms of the reactive HiPIMS processes were evaluated.The main deposition parameter affecting the nitrogen concentration of silicon nitride films was found to be the nitrogen content in the plasma. Films with nitrogen contents of 50 at.% were deposited at N2/Ar flow ratios of 0.3 and above. These films showed Si-N as the dominating component in Si 2p X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) core level spectra and Si–Si bonds were absent. The substrate temperature and target power were found to affect the nitrogen content to a lower extent. The residual stress and hardness of the films were found to increase with the film nitrogen content. Another factors influencing the coating stress were the process pressure, negative substrate bias, substrate temperature, and HiPIMS pulse energy. Silicon nitride coatings with good adhesion and low levels of compressive residual stress were grown by using a pressure of 600 mPa, a substrate temperature below 200 °C, pulse energies below 2.5 Ws, and negative bias voltages up to 100 V.The elemental composition of silicon oxynitride films was shown to depend on the target power settings as well as on the nitrous oxide flow rate. Silicon oxide-like films were synthesized under poisoned target surface conditions, whereas films deposited in the transition regime between poisoned and metallic conditions showed higher nitrogen concentrations. The nitrogen content of the films deposited in the transition region was controlled by the applied gas flow rate. The applied target power did not affect the nitrogen concentration in the transition regime, while the oxygen content increased at decreasing target powers. The chemical composition of the films was shown to range from silicon-rich to effectively stoichiometric silicon oxynitrides, where no Si–Si contributions were found in the XPS Si 2p core level spectra. The film optical properties, namely the refractive index and extinction coefficient, were shown to depend on the film chemical bonding, with the stoichiometric films displaying optical properties falling between those of silicon oxide and silicon nitride.The properties of silicon carbonitride films were greatly influenced by the synthesis method. The films deposited by HiPIMS using acetylene as the carbon source showed silicon nitride-like mechanical properties, such as a hardness of ~ 20 GPa and compressive residual stresses of 1.7 – 1.9 GPa, up to film carbon contents of 30 at.%. At larger film carbon contents the films had increasingly amorphous carbon-like properties, such as densities below 2 g/cm3 and hardnesses below 10 GPa. The films with more than 30 at.% carbon also showed columnar morphologies in cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, whereas films with lower carbon content showed dense morphologies. Due to the use of acetylene the carbonitride films contained hydrogen, up to ~ 15 at.%. The co-sputtered silicon carbonitride films showed a layered SiNx/CNx structure. The hardness of these films increased with the film carbon content, reaching a maximum of 18 GPa at a film carbon content of 12 at.%. Comparatively hard and low stressed films were grown by co-sputtering using a C target power of 1200 W for a C content around 12 at.%, a negative substrate bias less than 100 V, and a substrate temperature up to 340 °C.
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| 3. |
- Hänninen, Tuomas, et al.
(författare)
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Silicon oxynitride films deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering using nitrous oxide as a single-source precursor
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. A. Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films. - : A V S AMER INST PHYSICS. - 0734-2101 .- 1520-8559. ; 33:5, s. 05E121-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Silicon oxynitride thin films were synthesized by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering of silicon in argon/nitrous oxide plasmas. Nitrous oxide was employed as a single-source precursor supplying oxygen and nitrogen for the film growth. The films were characterized by elastic recoil detection analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, x-ray reflectivity, scanning electron microscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Results show that the films are silicon rich, amorphous, and exhibit a random chemical bonding structure. The optical properties with the refractive index and the extinction coefficient correlate with the film elemental composition, showing decreasing values with increasing film oxygen and nitrogen content. The total percentage of oxygen and nitrogen in the films is controlled by adjusting the gas flow ratio in the deposition processes. Furthermore, it is shown that the film oxygen-to-nitrogen ratio can be tailored by the high power impulse magnetron sputtering-specific parameters pulse frequency and energy per pulse. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
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| 4. |
- Hänninen, Tuomas
(författare)
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Silicon Oxynitride Thin Films Grown by Reactive HiPIMS
- 2015
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Amorphous silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) thin films were grown by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering from a pure silicon target in Ar/N2O plasmas. The elemental composition of the films was shown to depend on the target surface conditions during the film deposition, as well as on the reactive gas flow rate. When the target was sputtered under poisoned surface conditions, the film composition was predominantly silicon oxide, whereas films deposited in the transition regime between poisoned and metallic target surface conditions showed higher nitrogen concentrations, as measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA). The different target surface conditions were identified based on the evolution of the target current waveforms upon variation of the deposition parameters. The average electron temperatures during the peak target current were determined by Langmuir probe measurements, to assist with the explanation of the observed target current behavior and target poisoning characteristics.The chemical composition of the films was shown to range from silicon-rich to effectively stoichiometric silicon oxynitrides, where no Si–Si contributions were found in the XPS Si 2p core level spectra. The film optical properties, the refractive index n and the extinction coefficient k, were shown to depend on the film chemical bonding, with the effectively stoichiometric films displaying optical properties falling between those of SiO2 and Si3N4.
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| 5. |
- Hänninen, Tuomas, et al.
(författare)
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Stoichiometric silicon oxynitride thin films reactively sputtered in Ar/N2O plasmas by HiPIMS
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Physics D. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0022-3727 .- 1361-6463. ; 49:13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy, x = 0.2 − 1.3, y = 0.2 − 0.7) thin films were synthesized by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering from a pure silicon target in Ar/N2O atmospheres. It is found that the composition of the material can be controlled by the reactive gas flow and the average target power. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that high average powers result in more silicon-rich films, while lower target powers yield silicon-oxide-like material due to more pronounced target poisoning. The amount of nitrogen in the films can be controlled by the percentage of nitrous oxide in the working gas. The nitrogen content remains at a constant level while the target is operated in the transition region between metallic and poisoned target surface conditions. The extent of target poisoning is gauged by the changes in peak target current under the different deposition conditions. XPS also shows that varying concentrations and ratios of oxygen and nitrogen in the films result in film chemical bonding structures ranging from silicon-rich to stoichiometric silicon oxynitrides having no observable Si−Si bond contributions. Spectroscopic ellipsometry shows that the film optical properties depend on the amount and ratio of oxygen and nitrogen in the compound, with film refractive indices measured at 633 nm ranging between those of SiO2 and Si3N4.
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| 6. |
- Schmidt, Susann, et al.
(författare)
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SiNx Coatings Deposited by Reactive High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering: Process Parameters Influencing the Nitrogen Content
- 2016
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 8:31, s. 20386-20396
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (rHi-PIMS) was used to deposit silicon nitride (SiNx) coatings for biomedical applications. The SiNx growth and plasma characterization were conducted in an industrial coater, using Si targets and N-2 as reactive gas. The effects of different N-2-to-Ar flow ratios between 0 and 0.3, pulse frequencies, target power settings, and substrate temperatures on the discharge and the N content of SiNx coatings were investigated. Plasma ion mass spectrometry shows high amounts of ionized isotopes during the initial part of the pulse for discharges with low N-2-to-Ar flow ratios of amp;lt;0.16, while signals from ionized molecules rise with the N-2-to-Ar flow ratio at the pulse end and during pulse off times. Langmuir probe measurements show electron temperatures of 2-3 eV for nonreactive discharges and 5.0-6.6 eV for discharges in transition mode. The SiNx coatings were characterized with respect to their composition, chemical bond structure, density, and mechanical properties by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray reflectivity, X-ray diffraction, and nanoindentation, respectively. The SiNx deposition processes and coating properties are mainly influenced by the Nz-to-Ar flow ratio and thus by the N content in the SiNx films and to a lower extent by the HiPIMS frequencies and power settings as well as substrate temperatures. Increasing N2-to-Ar flow ratios lead to decreasing growth rates, while the N content, coating densities, residual stresses, and the hardness increase. These experimental findings were corroborated by density functional theory calculations of precursor species present during rHiPIMS.
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| 7. |
- Schmidt, Susann, et al.
(författare)
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SiNx coatings deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering: Process parameters influencing the residual coating stress
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Physics. - : AMER INST PHYSICS. - 0021-8979 .- 1089-7550. ; 121:17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The residual coating stress and its control is of key importance for the performance and reliability of silicon nitride (SiNx) coatings for biomedical applications. This study explores the most important deposition process parameters to tailor the residual coating stress and hence improve the adhesion of SiNx coatings deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (rHiPIMS). Reactive sputter deposition and plasma characterization were conducted in an industrial deposition chamber equipped with pure Si targets in N-2/Ar ambient. Reactive HiPIMS processes using N-2-to-Ar flow ratios of 0 and 0.28-0.3 were studied with time averaged positive ion mass spectrometry. The coatings were deposited to thicknesses of 2 mu m on Si(001) and to 5 mu m on polished CoCrMo disks. The residual stress of the X-ray amorphous coatings was determined from the curvature of the Si substrates as obtained by X-ray diffraction. The coatings were further characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and nano-indentation in order to study their elemental composition, morphology, and hardness, respectively. The adhesion of the 5 mu m thick coatings deposited on CoCrMo disks was assessed using the Rockwell C test. The deposition of SiNx coatings by rHiPIMS using N-2-to-Ar flow ratios of 0.28 yield dense and hard SiNx coatings with Si/N ratios amp;lt; 1. The compressive residual stress of up to 2.1 GPa can be reduced to 0.2 GPa using a comparatively high deposition pressure of 600 mPa, substrate temperatures below 200 degrees C, low pulse energies of amp;lt; 2.5 Ws, and moderate negative bias voltages of up to 100 V. These process parameters resulted in excellent coating adhesion (ISO 0, HF1) and a low surface roughness of 14 nm for coatings deposited on CoCrMo. (C) 2017 Author(s).
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