Superhard SiC thin films with a microstructure of nanocolumnar crystalline grains and an amorphous intergranular phase

Silicon carbide (SiC) thin films become superhard when they have microstructures of nanocolumnar crystalline grains (NCCG) with an intergranular amorphous SiC matrix. We investigated the role of ion bombardment and deposition temperature in forming the NCCG in SiC thin films. A direct-current (DC) unbalanced magnetron sputtering method was used with pure Ar as sputtering gas to deposit the SiC thin films at fixed target power of 200 W and chamber pressure of 0.4 Pa. The Ar ion bombardment of the deposited films was conducted by applying a negative DC bias voltage 0-100 V to the substrate during deposition. The deposition temperature was varied between room temperature and 450°C. Above a critical bias voltage of -80 V, the NCCG formed, whereas, below it, the SiC films were amorphous. Additionally, a minimum thermal energy (corresponding to a deposition temperature of 450°C in this study) was required for the NCCG formation. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and glancing angle X-ray diffraction analysis (GAXRD) were conducted to probe the samples’ structural characteristics. Of those methods, Raman spectroscopy was a particularly efficient non-destructive tool to analyze the formation of the SiC NCCG in the film, whereas GAXRD was insufficiently sensitive.