High-mass metal ion irradiation enables growth of high-entropy sublattice nitride thin films from elemental targets

• Synthesis of high-entropy sublattice nitride (HESN) coatings by magnetron sputtering is typically done using custom-made alloyed targets with specific elemental compositions. This approach is expensive, requires long delivery times, and offers very limited flexibility to adjust the film composition. Here, we demonstrate a new method to grow HESN films, which relies on elemental targets arranged in the multicathode configuration with substrates rotating during deposition. TiVNbMoWN films are grown at a temperature of similar to 520(degrees)C using Ti, V, Nb, and Mo targets operating in the direct current magnetron sputtering mode, while the W target, operated by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), provides a source of heavy ions. The energy of the metal ions EW+ is controlled in the range from 80 to 620 eV by varying the amplitude of the substrate bias pulses V-s, synchronized with the metal-ion-rich phase of HiPIMS pulses. We demonstrate that W(+ )irradiation provides dynamic recoil mixing of the film-forming components in the near-surface atomic layers. For EW+ >= 320 eV the multilayer formation phenomena, inherent for this deposition geometry, are suppressed and, hence, compositionally uniform HESN films are obtained, as confirmed by the microstructural and elemental analysis.(c) 2023 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Materialkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Materials Chemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Den kondenserade materiens fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Condensed Matter Physics (hsv//eng)

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art (subject category)