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Structure and mechanical properties of epitaxial TiN/V0.3Nb0.7N(100) superlattices

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Abstract

Epitaxial TiN/V0.3Nb0.7N superlattices with a 1.7% lattice mismatch between the layers were grown by reactive magnetron sputtering on MgO(001) substrates. Superlattice structure, crystalline perfection, composition modulation amplitudes, and coherency strains were studied using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Hardness H and elastic modulus were measured by nanoindentation. H increased rapidly with increasing Λ, peaking at H values ≍75% greater than rule-of-mixtures values at Λ ≍ 6 nm, before decreasing slightly with further increases in Λ. A comparison with previously studied lattice-matched TiN/V0.6Nb0.4N superlattices, which had nearly identical composition modulation amplitudes, showed a similar H variation, but a smaller H enhancement of ≍50%. The results suggest that coherency strains, which were larger for the mismatched TiN/V0.3Nb0.7N superlattices, were responsible for the larger hardness enhancement. The results are discussed in terms of coherency strain theories developed for spinodally decomposed materials. Nanoindenter elastic modulus results showed no significant anomalies.

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Author notes

  1. P. B. Mirkarimi

    Present address: Sandia National Laboratories, California, P.O. Box 969, 94551-0969, Livermore, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Illinois, 60208, Evanston, USA

    P. B. Mirkarimi & S. A. Barnett

  2. Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, 87545, Los Alamos, USA

    K. M. Hubbard & T. R. Jervis

  3. Department of Physics, Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden, USA

    L. Hultman

Authors
  1. P. B. Mirkarimi
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  2. S. A. Barnett
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  3. K. M. Hubbard
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  4. T. R. Jervis
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  5. L. Hultman
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Mirkarimi, P.B., Barnett, S.A., Hubbard, K.M. et al. Structure and mechanical properties of epitaxial TiN/V0.3Nb0.7N(100) superlattices. Journal of Materials Research 9, 1456–1467 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1994.1456

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1994.1456

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