Low temperature deposited titanium boride thin films and their application to surface engineering of microscale mold inserts

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2012

Abstract

Titanium boride thin films were deposited at low temperatures by balanced magnetron sputtering and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted balanced magnetron sputtering. The chemical composition, surface morphology, structure, and mechanical properties of titanium boride thin films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy, and instrumented nanoindentation. As compared to titanium boride films deposited by balanced magnetron sputtering, the increase in plasma density surrounding the substrate surface during film growth afforded by the ICP assist causes significant film densification and mechanical property improvement. The morphology of titanium boride thin films deposited onto microscale non-flat Ta substrates and their effectiveness as barrier coatings for microscale compression molding of Al was characterized by focused ion beam sectioning and SEM. The present results show the potential of low-temperature deposited, conformal, titanium boride thin films for engineering surfaces of microscale mold inserts for microscale pattern replication in reactive metals by compression molding. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Microsystem Technologies

First Page

667

Last Page

677

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