%0 Journal Article
%T Annealing temperature effect on the mechanical and tribological properties of molybdenum nitride thin films
%A Kaykhosrow Khojier
%A Mohammad Reza Karami Mehr and Hadi Savaloni
%J Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry
%D 2013
%I Springer
%R 10.1186/2193-8865-3-5
%X Mo thin films with 100-nm thickness were deposited on silicon substrates using DC magnetron sputtering method. Mo thin films were subsequently annealed at different temperatures (400¡ãC to 900¡ãC) with flow of nitrogen. The crystallographic structure of the samples was obtained using X-ray diffraction method. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used for surface morphology investigation. Nano-indentation and scratch tests were performed to obtain the surface hardness and friction coefficient of the samples, respectively. Results show that the ¦Ã-¦¬¦Ï2¦­(111) phase of molybdenum nitride with face-centered cubic structure and higher hardness, elastic modulus, and lower coefficient of friction and scratch volume is formed when the sample is annealed at 650¡ãC, while the Mo2N phase with tetragonal structure and lower hardness, elastic modulus, and higher scratch volume and friction coefficient is formed at higher temperatures of 775¡ãC and 900¡ãC. It is found that increasing the annealing temperature causes an increase of the grain size and film surface roughness. From the mechanical results, it may be deduced that 650¡ãC is a critical temperature for variation of mechanical and tribological properties.
%K Molybdenum nitride
%K Nanostructure
%K Hardness
%K Friction coefficient
%K Scratch volume
%U http://www.jnanochem.com/content/3/1/5/abstract