Titanium implantation into boron nitride films and ion-beam mixing of titanium-boron nitride multilayers

Ti-B-N films of various composition and crystalline structure have been synthesized by titanium ion implantation into sub-stoichiometric and stoichiometric hexagonal boron nitride films. Due to the relatively low penetration depth of Ti+ ions these films can only be prepared with limited thickness, of the order of several hundred nanometers. Ti-B-N films were also prepared by ion-beam mixing of multilayer coatings of the sequence Ti/BN by argon ion bombardment. With these methods, inhomogeneous coatings with respect to their composition, in particular at low fluences, were obtained. All films were investigated by glancing angle X-ray diffraction. SEM, SNMS and ESCA/Auger analysis were also performed on some of the samples. Hardness and Young's modulus were determined by an ultra-low load, depth-sensing nanoindenter. Most of the results can be understood by examination of the chemical composition and crystalline structure of the films.