Deposition of nanocomposite TiN-Si3N4 thin films by hybrid cathodic arc and chemical vapor process

A hybrid technique is described for the synthesis of nanocomposite TiN-Si3N4 thin films based on the reactive deposition of Ti produced from a cathodic arc source and Si from a liquid tetramethylsilane (TMS), precursor. The technique combines both the physical vapour of Ti and chemical vapour of silicon in a nitrogen background pressure in a single system. The influence of the TMS flow rate on the structure and mechanical properties has been investigated. The film structure was found to comprise of TiN crystallites and amorphous Si3N4. The X-ray diffraction data showed that with increasing TMS flow, there is a decrease in the TiN crystalline size from 33 nm to 4 nm. The hardness of the films was found to be strongly dependent on the Si content and reached a maximum value of 41 GPa at similar to 5% Si content at a total pressure of nitrogen and TMS of 0.8 Pa. Hardness enhancement was found to arise from the nanostructural change induced due to the addition of an amorphous Si3N4 phase into the film. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis confirmed the structure of the nc-TiN/ a- Si3N4 composites. Films with 4 at.% or more silicon were found to maintain the hardness after annealing at 500 degrees C in vacuum.