Effect of substrate bias on the microstructure and properties of (AlCrSiNbZr)Nx high entropy nitride thin film

In this study, AlCrSiNbZr nitride thin films were deposited on Si substrate by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering under the substrate bias from 0 V to −100 V at room temperature. The effect of substrate bias on structure, morphology, hardness and resistivity of the films was investigated. The results show that (111) preferred orientation was dominant phases for samples under bias of 0 V, −25 V, −50 V and − 75 V whereas amorphous-like feature was observed for samples under the bias of −100 V. In addition, crystallinity of film was enhanced when the substrate bias increased from 0 V to −50 V, but decreased when substrate bias further increased from −50 V to −100 V, suggesting that the optimized crystallinity of films was achieved under the substrate bias of −50 V. The oxygen contents of the thin films decreased significantly when the substrate bias was higher than −25 V. The hardness of the films was divided into two regions and samples under bias of −75 V and −100 V possessed higher hardness than those under bias of 0 V, −25 V and −50 V, which was mainly attributed to less oxynitride phases for samples under bias of −75 V and −100 V. The resistivity of thin films decreased as the substrate bias increased, which was mainly affected by the concentration of oxygen in films. The optimized substrate bias was −75 V with the maximum hardness and lowest resistivity. •(AlCrSiNbZr)N thin films fabricated by reactive RF magnetron sputtering•Effect of substrate bias on structure and properties of film was studied.•Amorphous and FCC structures can be achieved by adjusting substrate bias.•Optimized substrate bias is −75 V with the maximum hardness and low resistivity.