S. Graiser¹, S. J. Shin², L. B. Bayu Aji², X.Lepro-Chavez², G. V. Taylor², S. O. Kucheyev^2
1Binghamton University SUNY, Binghamton, NY
²Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Boron carbide is an ultrahard material, with excellent chemical stability, high melting point, low density making it a good candidate material for coatings for orthopedic implants. However, the deposition of boron carbide on non-planar and oblique angles remains a challenge due to the presence of undesirable growth modes such as nodular growth defects and columnar microstructure. Here, we investigate the deposition of ultrathick amorphous boron carbide films using radio-frequency (RF), direct current (DC), and high-power impulse (HiPIMS) magnetron sputtering with a full-face erosion magnetron source at multiple substrate tilt angles. Major film properties of residual stress, hardness and elastic modulus, areal density, and microstructure are compared.