Deposition and characterization of nitrides thin films resistant to high temperature oxidation

Full text: Nitride transition metal thin films have been extensively used in the last decades due to properties as hardness, wear resistance and mechanical strength. Zirconium nitride (ZrN) and niobium nitride (NbN) are coatings used in mechanical industries due its excellent tribological properties besides corrosion and oxidation resistance. However, these coating have problems to support oxidation in high temperature, once NbN and ZrN oxidize at 400 deg C and 600 deg C, respectively. A possibility to improve the oxidation resistance of ZrN and NbN is the addition of a third chemical element, as silicon or aluminum, forming ZrSiN and NbAlN. However, few studies were founded to verify the influence of these elements in structural and oxidation resistance of these nitrides. In this work were deposited ZrSiN and NbAlN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering using a AJA Orion 5-HV Sputtering Systems, modifying the amount of silicon and aluminum in each coating. Coatings were characterized as deposited by RBS, nanohardness, GAXRD and SEM. After oxidation tests in different temperatures coatings were analysed by SEM and XRD to verify changes on coatings structure and morphology properties. (author)