Micro-structural and bonding structure analysis of TiAlN thin films deposited with varying N₂ flow rate via ion beam sputtering technique

Titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) thin films were deposited on Si(1 0 0 ) substrate using titanium and aluminum targets in 1:1 ratio at various N₂ flow rates using ion beam sputtering (IBS) technique. The morphology, particle and crystallite size of TiAlN thin films were estimated by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) technique, respectively. The SEM images of the TiAlN thin films revealed smooth and uniform coating, whereas AFM images confirmed the particle size varying from 2.5 nm to 8.8 nm, respectively. The crystallite size and lattice strain were observed to vary from 4.79 nm to 5.5 nm and 0.0916 and 0.0844, respectively, with an increase in N₂ flow rate in the TiAlN thin films. The X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) results showed Ti L, N K and O K-edges of TiAlN coating within a range of 450 eV to 470 eV, 395 eV to 410 eV and 480 eV to 580 eV photon energy, respectively. The electronic structure and chemical bonding of state of c-TiAlN thin film of Ti L, N K and O K-edges were analyzed through semi-empirical curve fitting technique.