ENDRINO ARMENTEROS, JOSÉ LUIS, Palacín S. , Aguirre M.H. , Gutiérrez A. , Schäfers F.
Si
Acta Mater.
Article
Científica
3.624
3.277
01/01/2007
000245533900027
2-s2.0-33847315994
Nanocomposite CrAlSiN compounds prepared by the cathodic arc evaporation technique were subjected to structural and mechanical characterization tests. X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to investigate the effects of Si addition on the structure and phase development of the metastable NaCl structure of high aluminum CrAlN films. TEM studies revealed that partial substitution of the metal component by Si in CrAlN results in the nucleation of a wurtzite h-AlN phase even for amounts of silicon as low as ~2-3 at.%. XAS measurements at the Cr and Si K-edges indicated that the local environment of Cr atoms is strongly affected by the Si addition, and that silicon may also be part of the crystalline phase. These results indicate the formation of complex Cr-Si-X compounds, where X can be N, Al or both, and the formation of composite nanocrystalline CrAlSiN films. © 2006 Acta Materialia Inc.
Chromium compounds; Nanostructured materials; Nitrides; Nucleation; Physical vapor deposition; Transmission electron microscopy; Metal components; Metastable structures; Nanocrystalline microstructures; X ray absorption spectroscopy; Thin films