Dear all,
In some literature, it was found that HiPIMS results in low average grain size and it was explained by the renucleation due to high density flux of ions towards the substrate. However, in some papers it was explained that increased adatom mobility lead to lateral grain size increase. And it is known that adatom mobility is also caused by high density flux of ions towards the substrate which is characterisitc of HiPIMS.
So what is the relation between HiPIMS and the grain size in polycrystalline films?. Especially that this property plays a role in compressive stress and hardness.
Thank you
Both are correct. Basically, HiPIMS is considered as a more complicated deposition technique than DCMS and depending on the deposition parameters and the materials system, you may get two different effects. I would point out at one example where ZrTaB thin films are grown by hybrid Ta-HiPIMS/ZrB2-DCMS scheme (Ta target was operated in HiPIMS mode, while ZrB2 target was operated in DCMS mode). All deposition parameters were kept constant, except the HiPIMS average power and pulse frequency to get the same peak current densities.
The column size of the alloy grown at For 600W/100Hz increases compared to DCMS-grown ZrB2 reference film, while there is a significant decrease in column size for the alloys grown by 1200W/200Hz and 1800W/300Hz, which is significantly due to a change in the nucleation and growth conditions. In addition to column size, this directly influence on stress levels, nanostructure, and consequently mechanical properties Anas Ghailane (see: Article Strategy for simultaneously increasing both hardness and tou...
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