Synthesis and Characterization of （Ti, Ta）N Ternary Coatings on Si Wafer

The (Ti, Ta) N ternary coatings were synthesized by cathodic arc simultaneous co-deposition of Ti and Ta on Si (100) substrate.The influence of the independent Ti-and Ta-targets on the microstructures, phase-structures of the (Ti, Ta) N coatings was investigated with X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy.The results show that the simultaneous co-deposition of (Ti, Ta) N ternary coatings outperformed the conventional deposition of binary TiN and/or TaN coatings.To be specific, the grain sizes of (Ti, Ta) N coatings, comprising the dominant cubic-phased solid solution and some monoclinic Ta₃N₅ phase, were all at the nanometer scale with a narrow size distribution and with an element ratio:Ti:Ta:N=0.46:0.34:1.As compared with the binary TiN and TaN coatings, the XRD peaks of (Ti, Ta) N ternary coatings were significantly broadened, and the <200> preferential grain-growth orientation of (Ti, Ta) N ternary coatings was even more pronounced.