Mechanical properties and thermal stability of reactively sputtered multi-principal-metal Hf-Ta-Ti-V-Zr nitrides

• Crystalline (Hf,Ta,Ti,V,Zr)N nitride thin films, with a high-entropy metal-sublattice, were synthesized at 440 degrees C by reactive magnetron sputtering using an equimolar Hf-Ta-Ti-V-Zr-compound target. The coatings are single-phase fcc structured mono-nitrides for N-2/(Ar + N-2) flow-rate-ratios (f(N2)) between 30 and 45%. For higher f(N2) a small fraction of a second phase (next to the fcc matrix) can be detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). All coatings studied (prepared with f(N2) between 30 and 60%) show similar chemical compositions and hardness (H) values between 30.0 and 34.0 GPa with indentation moduli of similar to 460 GPa. Atom probe tomography (APT) indicates a homogenous distribution of all elements within our fcc-(Hf,Ta,Ti,V,Zr)N even after vacuum-annealing at 1300 degrees C. While H decreased from 32.5 to 28.1 GPa by this annealing treatment, the coating is still single-phase fcc structured with a defect density (expressed by XRD and SAED features, transmission electron microscopy contrast, and grain sizes) comparable to the as-deposited state. Only after vacuum-annealing at 1500 degrees C, XRD and APT reveal the formation of hexagonal structured (Ta,V)(2)N. The onset of nitrogen-loss - detected by thermogravimetric analysis - is similar to 1350 degrees C. Based on our results we can conclude that the sluggish diffusion within our fcc-(Hf,Ta,Ti,V,Zr)N warrants the single-phase fcc structure up to 1300 degrees C, although ab initio based calculations would suggest the lower-entropy products [fcc-(Hf,Zr)N, fcc-(Ta,V)N, and fcc-TiN] and [fcc-(Hf,Zr)N and fcc-(Ta,Ti,V)N] to be energetically more stable up to 1302 K.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Bearbetnings-, yt- och fogningsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Manufacturing, Surface and Joining Technology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Chemically complex alloys

High-entropy alloys (HEAs)

High-entropy nitrides

Multi-principal element nitrides

Magnetron sputtering

Thermal stability

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