Abstract
Comparative studies were performed on the chemical composition, the microstructure, residual stress, hardness and Young's modulus of titanium nitride films, which were prepared by reactive ion beam sputtering at substrate temperatures of 77 and 300 K. The main experimental parameter of sample preparation was the N~2~/Ar gas flow ratio r, which determines not only the chemical composition of the film, [N]/[Ti], but also its mechanical and electrical properties. The chemical composition was investigated by AES, XPS and RBS. Microstructural data were obtained by grazing incidence xβray diffractometry. The measurements indicate a mixed phase of Ti, Ti~2~N and TiN at lower r ratios and of cubic TiN at r > 0.05. From the integrated breadth of the diffraction lines, grain size D and strain Ξ΅ were determined: 150β250 Γ
for D and 0.5β1.5% for Ξ΅ The residual stress was measured by determining the bending of the substrate. Extraordinarily high compressive stress with pronounced maxima around stoichiometric composition was observed. The microhardness H~v~ and Young's modulus E were derived from the indentation loadingβunloading curve, as measured with a nanoindenter. Values up to 25 GPa for H~v~ and up to 10 GPa for E were obtained.