Ion irradiation effects in nanocrystalline TiN coatings

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms Vol. 261; no. 1-2; pp. 1162 - 1166
• Main Authors: Wang, H., Araujo, R., Swadener, J.G., Wang, Y.Q., Zhang, X., Fu, E.G., Cagin, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.08.2007
• Subjects: Ion irradiation effects; Nanocrystalline; TEM; Thin film; TiN; 68.37.Lp; TiN; 61.80.Jh; 61.82.Rx; 68.55.Jk; TEM; Ion irradiation effects; Nanocrystalline; Thin film
• ISSN: 0168-583X; 1872-9584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2007.04.248

Nitride materials and coatings have attracted extensive research interests for various applications in advanced nuclear reactors due to their unique combination of physical properties, including high temperature stability, excellent corrosion resistance, superior mechanical property and good thermal conductivity. In this paper, the ion irradiation effects in nanocrystalline TiN coatings as a function of grain size are reported. TiN thin films (thickness of 100nm) with various grain sizes (8–100nm) were prepared on Si substrates by a pulsed laser deposition technique. All the samples were irradiated with 4He+ ions to high fluences at room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM on the ion-irradiated samples show that damage accumulation in the TiN films reduces as the grain size reduces. Electrical resistivity of the ion-irradiated films increases slightly compared with the as-deposited ones. These observations demonstrate a good radiation-tolerance property of nanocrystalline TiN films.