Microstructures and properties changes induced by a metal vapor vacuum arc chromium interlayer in chromium nitride films

A Cr interlayer was firstly implanted into (100) silicon using a metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) technique, and then chromium nitride (CrN) films were deposited by cathodic arc plasma deposition. Regardless of whether the films included a Cr interlayer, the preferred orientation and the columnar structure of CrN films remained. Nevertheless, the Cr interlayer induced a finer grain structure and reduced significantly the residual stress of the films by up to 65%. The hardness of CrN films with a Cr interlayer was HV0.01 1000, which was less hard than that without an interlayer (HV0.01 1200), owing to its lower residual stress. However, the CrN films with a Cr interlayer exhibited a higher electrical resistivity (160 muOmega cm) than those without (50 muOmega cm), by virtue of its finer grain structure. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.