Nanomechanical behavior of (1 0 0) oriented titanium thin films

Abstract

Titanium thin films were deposited on single crystal Si (3 1 1) and polycrystalline 316 LN nuclear grade stainless steel substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction revealed that, irrespective of substrate type, films exhibit preferential growth along the (1 0 0) plane. The microstructure of the films corresponds to the zone-I type in structure zone model on both substrates. The hardness and Young's modulus of the films were extracted from load-displacement curves. The maximum values of hardness and Young's modulus were 12 and 132 GPa respectively for 220 nm thin film on SS substrate. The electrical resistivity data revealed that the films are metallic in nature and the resistivity is lower in the case of the 220 nm thickness film, on both substrates. The observed changes in mechanical and electrical properties can be correlated with variations in the microstructure of Ti films.