Corrosion behaviour of amorphous Ni-Si thin films on AISI 304L stainless steel

Nanoscale Ni-Si thin films are widely used in commercial microelectronic devices because of their promising electrical properties as well as their chemical stability. However, their application In corrosive environment has not been frequently addressed in the literature. In this study, amorphous Ni0.66Si0.33, Ni0.40Si0.60, and Ni0.20Si0.80 thin films are prepared on AISI 304L stainless steel by means of ion-beam sputter (IBS) deposition and their corrosion behaviour is studied using potentiodynamic polarisation measurements. The electrochemical measurements were conducted in 0.05 M HCl solution at room temperature. By means of optical interferometer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the surface morphology and chemical composition of the thin films were examined before and after the electrochemical measurement. The evaluated results showed that the Ni-Si thin films may exhibit improved corrosion resistance over the 304L substrate provided that Si content is high enough to facilitate the formation of a Si-rich passive film.