Interrelation Among Morphology, Mechanical Properties and Oxidation Behavior of NbxAlyNz Thin Films

NbxAlyNz thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering reactive technique with (y/x+y) ratio varying from 0 to 0.4, in order to maintain aluminum atoms inside NbN matrix in solid solution. GAXRD analyses revealed that the crystalline phase obtained for NbxAlyNz thin films was B1-NbN with a lattice constant shrinkage as Al concentration at these coatings was increased. Due to similarity in electro negativity values between Nb and Al, XPS analyses could not verify pronounced changes among as deposited NbxAlyNz coatings. The average hardness values evidenced that solid solution strengthening mechanism did not increase hardness significantly. The oxidation resistance increased with Al content and no oxide phases were registered by GAXRD analyses for coating with more aluminum added. However, SEM images revealed bubbles after oxidation at high temperatures for all samples.

采用反应磁控溅射法沉积了NbxAlyNz薄膜，通过调控(y/(x+y))组分比（范围为0至0.4），以确保铝原子以固溶体形式稳定存在于氮化铌基体中。掠入射X射线衍射（Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction，GAXRD）分析结果表明，所制备的NbxAlyNz薄膜的晶相为B1型氮化铌（B1-NbN）；随着涂层中铝含量的提升，其晶格常数发生收缩。由于铌与铝的电负性数值相近，X射线光电子能谱（X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy，XPS）分析未能在沉积态NbxAlyNz涂层中检测到显著的成分变化。平均硬度测试结果显示，固溶强化机制并未使涂层硬度得到显著提升。涂层的抗氧化性能随铝含量增加而增强，当铝添加量较高时，掠入射X射线衍射分析未在其氧化产物中检测到氧化相。然而，扫描电子显微镜（Scanning Electron Microscopy，SEM）图像显示，所有样品经高温氧化后均观测到气泡。