Nanocrystalline structure and hardness of thin films

Abstract

W---Si---N films were deposited by reactive sputtering in a N2+Ar atmosphere from a W target incrusted with different number of Si pieces. The coatings present different crystallographic structures from the crystalline [alpha]-W and W2N to amorphous phase. Crystalline films have very low grain sizes from 15 down to 3 nm.