Xuanyu Sheng¹, Nick Richter¹, D. Shaw², M. Watanabe², G. Rane², U. Krause², P. Duerrenfeld², H. Wang¹, X. Zhang^1
1Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
²Advanced Energy Industries, Karlstein am Main, Germany
TiN coatings fabricated through reactive sputtering have a variety of industrial applications. Here, we explore the influence of pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (enabled by AE Pinnacle Plus) on microstructure evolution of TiN coating, in comparison to conventional DC sputtering. The implementation of a pulsed DC voltage profile promotes a drastic texture change from randomly oriented polycrystals to (111) textured TiN coatings across the full range of pulse frequencies on various Si substrates, including amorphous SiO₂. Additionally, higher pulse frequencies promote significant grain size reduction, accompanied with corresponding increases in hardness and improved wear resistance. The potential mechanism for this microstructural and texture evolution is also explored.