Growth of Ti 3 SiC 2 thin films by elemental target magnetron sputtering

• Published in: Journal of applied physics 2004, Vol.96 (9), p.4817
• Main Authors: Emmerlich, Jens, Högberg, Hans, Sasvári, Szilvia, Persson, Per, Hultman, Lars, Palmquist, Jens-Petter, Jansson, Ulf, Molina-Aldareguia, Jon M., Czigány, Zsolt
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: additions; carbide; Chemistry; deposition; diffusion; elasticmoduls; hardness; Inorganic chemistry; Kemi; Mechanical-properties; NATURAL SCIENCES; NATURVETENSKAP; Oorganisk kemi; phase; tolerant
• ISSN: 1089-7550; 0021-8979
• DOI: 10.1063/1.1790571

Epitaxial Ti 3 SiC 2 (0001) thin films have been deposited by dc magnetron sputtering from three elemental targets of Ti, C, and Si onto MgO(111) and Al 2 O 3 (0001) substrates at temperatures of 800–900 °C. This process allows composition control to synthesize M n +1 AX n (MAX) phases (M: early transition metal; A: A-group element; X: C and∕or N; n =1–3) including Ti 4 SiC 3 . Depositions on MgO(100) substrates yielding the Ti–Si–C MAX phases with (10 5), as the preferred orientation. Samples grown at different substrate temperatures, studied by means of transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction investigations, revealed the constraints of Ti 3 SiC 2 nucleation due to kinetic limitations at substrate temperatures below 700 °C. Instead, there is a competitive TiC x growth with Si segregation to form twin boundaries or Si substitutional incorporation in TiC x . Physical properties of the as-deposited single-crystal Ti 3 SiC 2 films were determined. A low resistivity of 25  μ Ω cm was measured. The Young’s modulus, ascertained by nanoindentation, yielded a value of 343–370 GPa. For the mechanical deformation response of the material, probing with cube corner and Berkovich indenters showed an initial high hardness of almost 30 GPa. With increased maximum indentation loads, the hardness was observed to decrease toward bulk values as the characteristic kink formation sets in with dislocation ordering and delamination at basal planes.