Elemental distribution and fracture properties of magnetron sputtered carbon supersaturated tungsten films
Journal article, 2024
The combination of strength and toughness is a major driving force for alloy design of protective coatings, and nanocrystalline tungsten (W)-alloys have shown to be promising candidates for combining strength and toughness. Here we investigate the elemental distribution and the fracture toughness of carbon (C) alloyed W thin films prepared by non-reactive magnetron sputtering. W:C films with up to ~4 at.% C crystallize in a body-centered-cubic structure with a strong 〈hh0〉texture, and no additional carbide phases are observed in the diffraction pattern. Atom probe tomography and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of such a supersaturated solid solution. The pure W film has a hardness ~13 GPa and the W:C films exhibit a peak hardness of ~24 GPa. In-situ micromechanical cantilever bending tests show that the fracture toughness decreases from ~4.5 MPa·m1/2 for the W film to ~3.1 MPa·m1/2 for W:C films. The results show that C can significantly enhance the hardness of W thin films while retaining a high fracture toughness.
Tungsten
Atom probe tomography
XPS
PVD
Fracture toughness
Author
Stefan Fritze
Uppsala University
R. Hahn
Vienna University of Technology
Hisham Aboulfadl
Chalmers, Physics, Microstructure Physics
Fredrik O.L. Johansson
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
University of Potsdam
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
R. Lindblad
Uppsala University
Katalin Böőr
Uppsala University
Andreas Lindblad
Uppsala University
E. Berggren
Uppsala University
D. Kühn
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
T. Leitner
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
B. Osinger
Uppsala University
E. Lewin
Uppsala University
U. Jansson
Uppsala University
P. H. Mayrhofer
Vienna University of Technology
Mattias Thuvander
Chalmers, Physics, Microstructure Physics
Surface and Coatings Technology
0257-8972 (ISSN)
Vol. 477 130326CVD 2.0 - En ny generation av hårda beläggningar
Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) (RMA15-0048), 2016-05-01 -- 2021-06-30.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Tribology
Infrastructure
Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory
DOI
10.1016/j.surfcoat.2023.130326