Effect of Annealing Temperature and Thickness of Magnetron Sputtered Ni/Ti Film on Its Microstructure and Nanoindentation Behavior

The dependence of microstructure and mechanical properties on the thickness of Ni/Ti coatings deposited on a Si(100) substrate by magnetron sputtering and on the temperature of their subsequent annealing is studied. The thickness and the surface roughness of the coatings are determined using profilometry and atomic force microscopy. Nanoindentation is used to determine the penetration resistance, the hardness, and the modulus of elasticity. The layers with minimum thickness are shown to possess the highest mechanical properties. Annealing conducted after the sputtering results in gradual retardation of the process of coarsening of atomic clusters and improvement of the mechanical properties of the layer.