GROWTH AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CHROMIUM NITRIDE NANOSTRUCTURED FILMS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE BY PULSED LOW ENERGY MINIATURE DENSE PLASMA FOCUS DEVICE

In this study, chromium nitride films were deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrate using a Mather type low energy miniature plasma focus at room temperature. The films deposited with different number of deposition shots at 8.5 cm from top of the anode tip at zero angular position with respect to anode axis. The structure of deposited films was characterized using XRD analysis. The FESEM and AFM analyses were employed to characterize the surface morphology and roughness of the coatings, respectively. The mechanical characteristics of coating were evaluated using the Vickers micro-hardness. The XRD results showed the formation of chromium nitride on silicon substrate with crystal planes (1 1 1) and (2 0 0). The cross-sectional micrographs demonstrated that at one deposition shot the average growth rate is about 46 nm/shot. The results of the micro-hardness revealed that the sample deposited with 20 deposition shots is harder than the other deposition samples. Moreover, the EDX analysis illustrated presence of the elemental composition of the deposited samples without any impurity.