Microstructure and Residual Stresses in Al2O3 Prepared by Ion Beam Assisted Deposition
ABSTRACTAlumina films synthesized by ion beam assisted deposition (EBAD) were characterized in terms of their microstructure and residual stress. Normalized energy per deposited atom, En, ranged from 0 to 130 eV/atom. The microstructure of PVD films (En=0) is a mixture of crystalline (γ-Al2O3) and amorphous phases and IBAD films are amorphous. Density and stoichiometry vary between 2.6 and 3.1 g/cm3 and 1.3 and 1.6, respectively. Neither are dependent on either ion-to-atom arrival rate ratio, R, or En. The film porosity is in the form of small (4-6 nm) voids of density 1017 - 1018 cm-3. Bombarding gas is incorporated with 80% efficiency to levels of 4-5 at. %. A tensile residual stress of 0.3 GPa exists in PVD films. A rapid transition to high compressive stresses occurs with increased En, with a saturation of -0.4 GPa occurring at high En There is a strong correlation between gas incorporation and residual film stress. However, no existing models are capable of providing a quantitative explanation of the results.