Characterization of (Ti,Al)N films deposited by off-plane double bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc

(Ti,Al)N films were deposited by a new off-plane double bend filtered cathodic vacuum are technique under a nitrogen atmosphere at room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to observe the surface morphology of the deposited films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to determine the composition and bonding structure of the deposited films. A scratch test was used to access the film adhesion. The deposited films are atomically smooth and particle free. The Al/Ti atomic ratio in the deposited films is around 1. The films deposited at the pressure of 1 x 10(-4) Torr are composed of metallic Ti and Al phase and a small amount of (Ti,Al)N phase. For the films deposited at the pressure of 1.5 x 10(-3) Torr, (Ti, AI)N phases are dominant. The scratch test indicates that the critical load increases with increasing deposition pressure up to 1.5 x 10(-3) Torr, then decrease drastically with the further increase of deposition pressure. As substrate bias is increased, critical load increases and reachs the maximum at the bias of 200 V, then decreases at higher bias. The hardness of the deposited films is found to be the main factor that affects the critical load of the thin films. (C) 2001 American Vacuum Society.