Characterization of aluminum–aluminum nitride coatings sputter deposited using the pulsed gas process

Abstract

A dc triode magnetron has been used to produce freestanding Al/Al + AlN lamellar foils by sputter deposition. The 5-..mu..m-thick foils produced on both flat substrates as well as curved substrates exhibited good specularity as well as excellent mechanical properties. The pulse spacing was varied from none to 100-nm spacing. The yield strength of the material was found to obey the Hall-Petch relation sigma/sub ys/ = 230 + .07/d/sup 1/2/, where sigma/sub ys/ is in MPa. Auger electron Spectroscopy and Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy indicate that the large flow stress of 230 MPa must be due to grain refinement of the extended source and not an impurity effect. The result is that limitations of masking found in uniaxial flux sources for curved surfaces can be removed allowing the high quality coating of more general shapes.