This thesis concerns the ternary Al-Cr-O system. (Al1-xCrx)2O3 solid solution thin films with 0.6<x<0.7 were deposited on Si(001) substrates at temperatures of 400-500 °C by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering from metallic targets of Al and Cr in a flow controlled Ar / O2 gas mixture. As-deposited and annealed (Al1-xCrx)2O3 thin films were analyzed by x-ray diffraction, elastic recoil detection analysis, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nanoindentation. (Al1-xCrx)2O3 showed to have face centered cubic structure with lattice parameter of 4.04 Å, which is in contrast to the typical corundum structure reported for these films. The as-deposited films exhibited hardness of ~ 26 GPa and elastic modulus of 220-235 GPa. Phase transformation from cubic to corundum (Al0.32Cr0.68)2O3 starts at 925 °C. Annealing at 1000 °C resulted in complete phase transformation, while no precipitates of alumina and chromia were observed. Studies on kinetics of phase transformation showed a two-step thermally activated process; phase transformation and grain growth with the apparent activation energies 213±162 and 945±27 kJ/mol, respectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-65700 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Khatibi, Ali |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Tunnfilmsfysik, Linköpings universitet, Tekniska högskolan, Linköping : Linköping University Electronic Press |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Licentiate thesis, comprehensive summary, info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Linköping Studies in Science and Technology. Thesis, 0280-7971 ; 1474 |
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