Nanostructure and mechanical properties of WC-SiC thin films
Abstract
The mechanical properties of WC-SiC thin films deposited by dual radio frequency magnetron sputtering were investigated. The films were characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to evaluate the details of the microstructure and degree of amorphization. The results indicate that small additions of SiC (<25%) can significantly increase hardness compared to a pure WC film, but higher,SiC contents do not strongly affect hardness. XRD studies show the SiC had a disordering effect. TEM results showed that WC films had coarse porous structure, but films with a low silicon carbide content (approximately 10 to 25 at%) had a denser nanocrystalline structure. Samples with greater than 25% SiC were amorphous. The initial hardness increase at lower SiC contents correlated well with the observed densification, but the transition to an amorphous structure did not strongly affect hardness.
Department
Mechanical Engineering
Publication Date
12-1-2002
Journal Title
Journal of Materials Research
Publisher
MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1557/JMR.2002.0457
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Jose L. Endrino and J.E. Krzanowski, "Nanostructure and Mechanical Properties of W-Si-C Thin Films," Journal of Materials Research, v. 17, pp. 3163-3167 (2002).
Rights
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002