Structure, Mechanical and Optical Properties of Silicon-Rich Al–Si–N Films Prepared by High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering

This article reports on the influence of the sputtering parameters (discharge voltage, average target power density) of a high power impulse magnetron discharge (HiPIMS) on the structure, mechanical and optical properties of silicon-rich Al–Si–N films. We show that with the change of a discharge target power density in the range of 30–120 W/cm2, the hardness of the sputtered Al–Si–N films nonlinearly changes in the range of 22–29 GPa, while the concentration of the absorption centers changes in the range of 1018–1020/cm3. The optical spectra of the HiPIMS sputtered films are completely different from the Al–Si–N films prepared by a direct current magnetron sputtering, with an absence of “monoenergetic” optical absorption centers, which are attributed to point defects