Oxidation Behavior of Nanostructure CrAlN Thin Films

Nirun Witit-anun; Adisorn Buranawong

doi:10.53848/ssstj.v12i1.874

Authors

Nirun Witit-anun Burapha University
Adisorn Buranawong

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53848/ssstj.v12i1.874

Keywords:

Oxidation behavior, CrAlN, Thin film, Sputtering, Alloy target

Abstract

In this research, the nanostructure chromium aluminium nitride (CrAlN) thin films were prepared on silicon (100) substrate by reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique with Cr-Al alloy target and then annealing in air at different temperatures (500 - 900 °C) to investigate the oxidation behavior. The films' oxidation rate and oxidation activation energy were also calculated using parabolic relations and the Arrhenius equation. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that a solid solution CrAlN structure was found for the as-deposited thin film whereas the mixed oxide phase of Cr₂O₃ and Cr₅O₁₂ structures were discovered in the XRD spectra upon oxidation temperature at 800 °C. The XRD patterns were verified by the Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) examination, which demonstrated the obvious increase of oxygen concentration at oxidation temperature from 800 °C due to the oxidation mechanism. The oxidation behavior was also confirmed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analysis which the grain aggregation was observed while the cross-sectional microstructure of the thin films revealed that a very thin dense oxide layer was formed on the CrAlN layer. The oxide thickness increased from 648 nm to 1044 nm with increasing annealing temperature. The thin films began oxidizing above 800 °C, resulting in a porous structure. It was discovered that the as-deposited thin film exhibited a high-temperature oxidation resistance at 800 °C. The oxidation rate increased from 1.43 × 10^-13 to 3.78 × 10^-13 cm/s² and was obtained from an annealing temperature of 800 °C. The oxidation activation energy calculated from the Arrhenius plot was 99.85 kJ/mol. The nanoindentation technique also reported that the hardness of the films decreased from 15.92 to 0.03 GPa through the annealing temperature.

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