Flexible hard (Zr, Si) alloy films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Abstract The article reports on the investigation of mechanical properties of Si-rich (Zr, Si) alloy films deposited by magnetron sputtering. The main aim of this investigation is to develop flexible hard (Zr, Si) alloy films with enhanced resistance to cracking. The (Zr, Si) films were formed by a pulsed dual magnetron discharge. Mechanical properties and elemental composition of sputtered (Zr, Si) films were tuned by a negative substrate bias U s , i.e. by the energy E bi delivered to the growing film by bombarding ions. It was found that using of pulsed dual magnetron discharge makes it possible to deposit flexible hard (Zr, Si) alloy films with high values of hardness H ≈ 20 GPa, ratio H/E ⁎  > 0.1, elastic recovery W e  > 60%, compressive macrostress (σ