By using direct current (DC) and radio frequency (RF) co-sputtering deposition, multilayer Si3N4 films composed of alternately DC layer and RF layer were prepared. Phase composition, microstructure, and hardness/toughness of different Si3N4 films were studied. X-ray diffraction results showed that DC layer was amorphous Si3N4 film, while RF layer was nanocrystalline Si3N4 film. The hardness of amorphous Si3N4 film was higher than that of nanocrystalline Si3N4 film and the plasticity of nanocrystalline Si3N4 film was higher than that of amorphous Si3N4 film. Furthermore, the hardness/toughness of multilayer Si3N4 films was obviously higher than that of the single Si3N4 film and the plasticity was higher than that of single nanocrystalline Si3N4 film, which can be attributed to the fact that a large number of interface hindered the increasing of particles, thus, the fine particles and the interface strengthened the multilayer films, while the propagation of micro-crack was prevented by amorphous/nanocrystalline layer of multilayer Si3N4 film.
KawaiC. and YamakawaA.: ‘Effect of porosity and microstructure on the strength of Si3N4: designed microstructure for high strength, high thermal shock resistance, and facile machining’, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1997, 80, (10), 2705–2708. doi: 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1997.tb03179.x
2.
NakanoA., KaliaR. K. and VashishtaP.: ‘Dynamics and morphology of brittle cracks: a molecular-dynamics study of silicon nitride’, Phys. Rev. Lett., 1995, 75, (17), 3138–3141. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.3138
3.
VepřekS., ReiprichS. and ShizhiL.: ‘Superhard nanocrystalline composite materials: the TiN/Si3N4 system’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 1995, 66, (20), 2640–2642. doi: 10.1063/1.113110
4.
GuazzatoM., AlbakryM., RingerS. P. and SwainM. V.: ‘Strength, fracture toughness and microstructure of a selection of all-ceramic materials. Part I. Pressable and alumina glass-infiltrated ceramics’, Dent. Mater., 2004, 20, (5), 441–448. doi: 10.1016/j.dental.2003.05.003
5.
TracyJ., WaasA. and DalyS.: ‘Experimental assessment of toughness in ceramic matrix composites using the J-integral with digital image correlation part II: application to ceramic matrix composites’, J. Mater. Sci., 2015, 50, (13), 1–13.
6.
LiH., LiuY., JiangB., KanJ. and LiuZ.: ‘The structure and toughness of TiN coatings prepared by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering’, Vacuum, 2016, 125, 165–169. doi: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2015.12.020
7.
GontadF., CondeJ., FilonovichS., CerqueiraM., AlpuimP. and ChiussiS.: ‘Study on excimer laser irradiation for controlled dehydrogenation and crystallization of boron doped hydrogenated amorphous/nanocrystalline silicon multilayers’, Thin Solid Films, 2013, 536, 147–151. doi: 10.1016/j.tsf.2013.04.005
8.
GuoW., JägleE., YaoJ., MaierV., Korte-KerzelS., SchneiderJ. M. and RaabeD.: ‘Intrinsic and extrinsic size effects in the deformation of amorphous CuZr/nanocrystalline Cu nanolaminates’, Acta Mater., 2014, 80, 94–106. doi: 10.1016/j.actamat.2014.07.027
9.
GracinD., SiketićZ., JuraićK. and ČehM.: ‘Analysis of amorphous-nanocrystalline silicon thin films by time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis and high-resolution electron microscopy’, Appl. Sur. Sci., 2013, 275, 19–22. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2013.01.162
10.
UpadhyayR. K. and KumaraswamidhasL. A.: ‘Investigation of monolayer-multilayer PVD nitride coating’, Surf. Eng., 2014, 31, (2), 123–133. doi: 10.1179/1743294414Y.0000000344
11.
AliR., SebastianiM. and BemporadE.: ‘Influence of Ti–TiN multilayer PVD-coatings design on residual stresses and adhesion’, Mater. Des., 2015, 75, 47–56. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2015.03.007
12.
RaviN., MarkandeyaR. and JoshiS. V.: ‘Effect of substrate roughness on adhesion and tribological properties of nc-TiAlN/a-Si3N4 nanocomposite coatings deposited by cathodic arc PVD process[J]’, Surf. Eng., 2017, 33, (1), 1–13.
13.
BullS. and JonesA. M.: ‘Multilayer coatings for improved performance’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 1996, 78, (1), 173–184. doi: 10.1016/0257-8972(94)02407-3
DangC., LiJ., WangY. and ChenJ.: ‘Structure, mechanical and tribological properties of self-toughening TiSiN/Ag multilayer coatings on Ti6Al4V prepared by arc ion plating’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2016, 386, 224–233. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.06.024
16.
WiecińskiP., SmolikJ., GarbaczH. and KurzydłowskiK.: ‘Failure and deformation mechanisms during indentation in nanostructured Cr/CrN multilayer coatings’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2014, 240, 23–31. doi: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2013.12.006
17.
CabibboM., ClementeN., El MehtediM., HamoudaA., MusharavatiF., SantecchiaE. and SpigarelliS.: ‘Constitutive analysis for the quantification of hardness decay in a superlattice CrN/NbN hard-coating’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2015, 275, 155–166. doi: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2015.05.024
18.
ChenY. H., HuangJ. C., DuX. H. and WangX.: ‘Time-dependent creep behavior of amorphous ZrCu and nanocrystalline Zr thin films - A comparison’, Intermetallics, 2016, 68, 101–106. doi: 10.1016/j.intermet.2015.10.001
19.
ZakhvalinskiiV., GoncharovI. Y., KudryavtsevE., PilukE., KolesnikovD., RodrigesV., KabilovZ., TaranS. and KuzmenkoA.: ‘RF-magnetron sputtering of Si3N4 and study of Si3N4/p-Si heterostructures’, J. Nanoelectron. Optoelectron., 2014, 9, (4), 570–575. doi: 10.1166/jno.2014.1627
20.
YuL., DongS., XuJ. and KojimaI.: ‘Microstructure and hardening mechanisms in a-Si3N4/nc-TiN nanostructured multilayers’, Thin Solid Films, 2008, 516, (8), 1864–1870. doi: 10.1016/j.tsf.2007.09.022
21.
HimmelB., ClaudiusJ., GerberT. and ReinholdC.: ‘Analysis of DC-sputtered Si3N4-films using X-ray diffraction and computer simulation’, J. Non-cryst. Solids, 1993, 162, (1-2), 136–143. doi: 10.1016/0022-3093(93)90749-N
22.
PaulsonW. M., HickernellF. and DavisR.: ‘Effects of deposition parameters on optical loss for rf-sputtered Ta2O5 and Si3N4 waveguides’, J. Vac. Sci. Technol., 1979, 16, (2), 307–310. doi: 10.1116/1.569933
23.
QuinnG. D. and BradtR. C.: ‘On the Vickers indentation fracture toughness test’, J Am Ceram Soc., 2007, 90, (3), 673–680. doi: 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2006.01482.x
24.
LiuH. and HsuS. M.: ‘Fracture behavior of multilayer silicon nitride/boron nitride ceramics’, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1996, 79, (9), 2452–2457. doi: 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1996.tb08996.x
25.
GeF., ZhuP., MengF. and HuangF.: ‘Enhancing the wear resistance of magnetron sputtered VN coating by Si addition’, Wear, 2016, 354, 32–40. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2016.01.001
26.
ZhangS., SunD., FuY. and DuH.: ‘Toughness measurement of thin films: a critical review’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2005, 198, (1–3), 74–84. doi: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2004.10.021
27.
Flores-GarcíaJ. C., Pech-CanulM. I., Leal-CruzA. L., and Rendón-AngelesJ. C.: ‘Synthesis of (α- and β-)Si3N4/Si2N2O into silicon particulate porous preforms by hybrid system CVI and direct nitridation’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2012, 32, (1), 175–184. doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2011.08.006
28.
EmotoH., MitomoM., WangC. M., HirosturuH. and InabaT.: ‘Fabrication of silicon nitride–Silicon oxynitride in-situ composites’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 1998, 18, (5), 527–533. doi: 10.1016/S0955-2219(97)00155-6
29.
LuoJ., ZhaoZ., ShenJ. and ZhangC.: ‘Elastic-plastic analysis of ultrafine-grained Si2N2O-Si3N4 composites by nanoindentation and finite element simulation’, Ceram. Int., 2014, 40, (5), 7073–7080. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2013.12.039
30.
VilaM., CaceresD. and PrietoC.: ‘Mechanical properties of sputtered silicon nitride thin films’, J. Appl. Phys., 2003, 94, (12), 7868–7873. doi: 10.1063/1.1626799
31.
TaftE.: ‘Characterization of silicon nitride films’, J. Electrochem. Soc., 1971, 118, (8), 1341–1346. doi: 10.1149/1.2408318
32.
ShiZ., WangY., DuC., HuangN., WangL. and NingC.: ‘The structure, surface topography and mechanical properties of Si–C–N films fabricated by RF and DC magnetron sputtering’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2011, 258, (4), 1328–1336. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.09.036
33.
PatscheiderJ., ZehnderT. and DiserensM.: ‘Structure-performance relations in nanocomposite coatings’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2001, 146, 201–208. doi: 10.1016/S0257-8972(01)01389-5
34.
WilsonA. B., WuS., GotmanI., HousdenJ. and GutmanasE. Y.: ‘Duplex coatings with enhanced adhesion to Ti alloy substrate prepared by powder immersion nitriding and TiN/Ti multilayer deposition’, Mater. Lett., 2015, 157, 45–49. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2015.05.054
35.
AraujoJ. A., AraujoG. M., SouzaR. M. and TschiptschinA. P.: ‘Effect of periodicity on hardness and scratch resistance of CrN/NbN nanoscale multilayer coating deposited by cathodic arc technique’, Wear, 2015, 330–331, 469–477. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2015.01.051
36.
ŠajgalikP., DuszaJ. and HoffmannM. J.: ‘Relationship between microstructure, toughening mechanisms, and fracture toughness of reinforced silicon nitride ceramics’, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1995, 78, (10), 2619–2624. doi: 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1995.tb08031.x
37.
CharitidisC. A.: ‘Probing mechanical properties of thin film and ceramic materials in micro-and nano-scale using indentation techniques’, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2010, 256, (24), 7583–7590. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.06.006
38.
DauskardtR., LaneM., MaQ. and KrishnaN.: ‘Adhesion and debonding of multi-layer thin film structures’, Eng. Fract. Mech., 1998, 61, (1), 141–162. doi: 10.1016/S0013-7944(98)00052-6
