Amorphous/Nanocrystalline Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering with Additional External Magnetic Field

Combined amorphous and nanocrystalline films attract an attention due to possibility to improve toughness, wear resistance and other properties which are important in nanomaterials and processes in energy systems. One of the known film fabrication methods is the magnetron sputtering deposition in the presence of an additional external magnetic field with inductions of up to 0.3 T as it was demonstrated by an example of the B4C-TiB2 system. The induction effects on the amorphous films hardness, growth rate and nanocrystallization process were investigated and discussed. The deposition under an additional external magnetic field with induction more than 0.2 T leads to the of nc-inclusions formation as was determined by X-ray diffraction, microdiffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy methods. The target and film compositions were determined by energy disperse spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. Compared to the target composition, some enrichment by nonmetallic elements (carbon and boron) was fixed in films.