Materials Research Letters (Jun 2019)

Low-temperature growth of epitaxial Ti2AlC MAX phase thin films by low-rate layer-by-layer PVD

  • A. V. Pshyk,
  • E. Coy,
  • M. Kempiński,
  • B. Scheibe,
  • S. Jurga

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2019.1594428
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 6
pp. 244 – 250

Abstract

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Here we report on the structural and tribo-mechanical characterization of epitaxial single-crystalline Ti2AlC MAX phase thin films, grown by means of electron beam physical vapor deposition at relatively low temperature (700°C). The growth of phase pure Ti2AlC at a relatively lower temperature when compared to other PVD methods was achieved utilizing a relatively low deposition rate and layer-by-layer deposition technique. The epitaxial growth is evidenced through the combination of XRD, HR-TEM and Raman spectroscopy measurements. The nanomechanical and micro-scale tribological properties of the Ti2AlC thin films were studied by means of nanoindentation and nanoscratch tests.

Keywords