Structure and mechanical properties of Ti-C films deposited using combination of pulsed DC and normal DC magnetron co-sputtering

Raman, KHT and Kiran, MSRN and Ramamurty, U and Rao, Mohan G (2012) Structure and mechanical properties of Ti-C films deposited using combination of pulsed DC and normal DC magnetron co-sputtering. In: APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE, 258 (22). pp. 8629-8635.

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Abstract

Titanium-carbon (Ti-C) thin films of different compositions were prepared by a combination of pulsed DC (for Ti target) and normal DC (for graphite target) magnetron co-sputtering on oxidized silicon and fused quartz substrates. At 33.7 at.% of C content, pure hcp Ti transforms into fcc-TiC with a preferential orientation of (2 2 0) along with (1 1 1) and (2 0 0). A clear transformation in the preferential orientation from (2 2 0) to (1 1 1) has been observed when the C content was increased to 56 at.%. At 62.5 at.% of C, TiC precipitates in an amorphous carbon matrix whereas further increase in C leads to X-ray amorphous films. The cross-sectional scanning electron microscope images reveal that the films with low carbon content consists of columnar grains, whereas, randomly oriented grains are in an amorphous carbon matrix at higher carbon content. A dramatic variation was observed in the mechanical properties such as hardness, H, from 30 to 1 GPa and in modulus, E, from 255 to 25 GPa with varying carbon content in the films. Resistance to plastic deformation parameter was observed as 0.417 for films containing 62.5 at.% of C. Nanoscratch test reveals that the films are highly scratch resistant with a coefficient of friction ranging from 0.15 to 0.04. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
Publisher:	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to Elsevier
Keywords:	Titanium carbide; Pulsed balanced magnetron; Preferred orientation; Nanocomposite; Nanoindentation
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Materials Engineering (formerly Metallurgy) Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Instrumentation Appiled Physics
Date Deposited:	09 Aug 2012 11:21
Last Modified:	09 Aug 2012 11:21
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/44907

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