ABSTRACT
Zirconium silicon nitride thin films with 1.6% Si addition were deposited via reactive magnetron sputtering and characterized by RBS, SEM-FEG, GAXRD, XPS and high temperature oxidation tests, aiming to investigate how silicon is structurally inserted in Zirconium nitride (ZrN) matrix. GAXRD results show a reduction in lattice parameter and grain size due to Si incorporation and XPS analyses demonstrate Si is present only in nitride form. Such observations proved the non-formation of substitutional or interstitial solid solution in ZrN, but the presence of Si3N4, even in low Si concentrations.
Acknowledgements
The authors want to thank the UFRGS Ionic Implantation Laboratory for RBS analyses and CENANO-INT-RJ for XPS results.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).