Formation of Ti2AlC-based thin films via magnetron sputtering and annealing under vacuum

journal article in Web of Science

English

High-purity Ti, Al and C targets were used to fabricate Ti2AlC-based thin films on industrial polycrystalline Al2O3 substrates via magnetron sputtering under argon, followed by vacuum annealing. The phase compositions of the Ti2AlC-based thin films were analysed, and scanning electron microscopy was performed to investigate their structures. Grain size and morphology depended on the deposition pattern. A material composed of -97.1% Ti2AlC and -2.9% TiC was obtained by sputtering Al for thirty minutes, then sputtering four alternating layers of Ti and C for ten minutes each. The thin film was subsequently annealed under vacuum at 900 degrees C for 60 minutes. The samples contained lamellar hexagonal plate-shaped grains structures. The plate-shaped grains ranged from 200 nm to 400 nm in length depending on the sputtering mode. The long sides of the lamellar grains were predominantly oriented perpendicular to the alumina substrates. Regardless of the sputtering conditions, the coherent scattering region of Ti2AlC was -64 nm in size after annealing at 900 degrees C. Changes in the size of the coherent scattering region of the TiC phase were non-linear and ranged from 9 to 60 nm.

Titanium aluminum carbide; MAX phases; Thin film; Plate-shaped grains; Lamellar grains; X-ray diffraction; Microstructure

Cherkasova, N.; Ogneva, T.; Burov, V.; Sokolov, I.; Kuzmin, R.; Khabirov, R.

1. 11. 2021

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

LAUSANNE

0040-6090

Thin Solid Films

737

1

Kingdom of the Netherlands

138953-1

138953-8

8

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040609021004363?via%3Dihub