Deformation and fracture of Ti–Si–N nanocomposite films

The deformation and fracture of Ti–Si x –N coatings of varying Si content were examined by cross-sectional transmission microscopy. Cross-sections were prepared through both undeformed coatings and coatings which had previously been indented using a 5 μm radius spherically tipped diamond indenter. S...

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Veröffentlicht in:Thin solid films 2005-05, Vol.479 (1), p.193-200
Hauptverfasser: Cairney, J.M., Hoffman, M.J., Munroe, P.R., Martin, P.J., Bendavid, A.
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The deformation and fracture of Ti–Si x –N coatings of varying Si content were examined by cross-sectional transmission microscopy. Cross-sections were prepared through both undeformed coatings and coatings which had previously been indented using a 5 μm radius spherically tipped diamond indenter. Samples with low silicon contents (0.8 and 1.5 at.%Si) had a columnar grain structure which deformed by intergranular cracking and shear sliding at the grain boundaries. Samples with higher silicon contents (9.5 and 12.5 at.%Si) consisted of TiN nanocrystals ∼5 nm in size connected by an amorphous Si 3N 4 phase. These coatings contained a limited amount of intergranular cracking. The nanocrystalline coatings are thought to undergo quasi-plastic deformation behaviour via cracking on a nanometer scale, where the crack size is of the order of the grain size.
ISSN:0040-6090
1879-2731
DOI:10.1016/j.tsf.2004.11.185