Growth and Properties of Amorphous Hf1−x−yAlxSiyN (0≤x≤0.2; 0≤y≤0.2) and a-Hf0.6Al0.2Si0.2N/nc-HfN Multilayers by DC Reactive Magnetron Sputtering from a Single Hf0.60Al0.20Si0.20 Target

• Amorphous (a) and nanocrystalline (nc) Hf1−x−yAlxSiyN and multilayer a-Hf0.6Al0.2Si0.2N/nc-HfN films are grown on Si(001) at temperatures Ts = 100-450 ◦C using ultrahigh vacuum magnetically-unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering from a single Hf0.60Al0.20Si0.20 target in a 5%-N2/Ar atmosphere at a total pressure of 20 mTorr (2.67 Pa). The composition and nanostructure of Hf1−x−yAlxSiyN is controlled during growth by independently varying the ion energy (Ei) and the ion-to-metal flux ratio (Ji/JMe) incident at the film surface. With Ji/JMe = 8, the composition and nanostructure of the films ranges from x-ray amorphous with 1-x-y = 0.60 at Ei = 15 eV, to an amorphous matrix with encapsulated nanocrystals with 1-x-y = 0.66-0.84 at Ei = 25-35 eV, to nanocrystalline with 1-x-y = 0.96-1.00 at Ei = 45-65 eV. Varying Ji/JMe with Ei = 13 eV yields amorphous alloy films at Ts = 100 ◦C. a-Hf0.6Al0.6Si0.6N/nc-HfN multilayers with periods Λ = 2-20 nm exhibit enhanced fracture toughness compared to polycrystalline VN, TiN, and Ti0.5Al0.5N reference samples; multilayer hardness values increase monotonically from 20 GPa with Λ = 20 nm to 27 GPa with Λ = 2 nm.

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