藉由高功率脈衝磁控濺鍍系統(High power impulse magnetron sputtering;HiPIMS)，搭載電漿放射監控儀(PEM)監控靶材在反應式鍍膜過程的毒化狀態。利用電漿Cr原子的訊號(520.8 nm)控制乙炔(C2H2)流量，精準控制反應性氣體，穩定電漿光激發強度。透過改變不同PEM設定值進行成分的調整，並搭配不同偏壓，比較薄膜彼此間的性質差異。此外也以不同電源進行含氫碳化鉻薄膜鍍製，包括直流電源與最新型的疊加型Superimposed HiPIMS。由改變不同PEM設定值與偏壓的實驗結果顯示，以HiPIMS 電源在偏壓-600V，PEM設定百分比50%所鍍製的含氫碳化鉻薄膜，具有較高硬度26 GPa，且具有優異的附著性，臨界荷重為42 N。當偏壓-900V時薄膜硬度值可達28 GPa，但由於過高偏壓及HiPIMS離子轟擊的效果，使得內應力過高，附著性略為下降，臨界荷重為35 N。以不同電源鍍製碳化鉻薄膜的結果，可發現使用疊加型HiPIMS能解決HiPIMS低佔空比(較少工作時間)所造成的低鍍率問題，並且具有優異的機械性質，硬度有27.5 GPa，臨界荷重在30.7 N，具有良好的附著性，同時也具有較低之磨擦係數0.35。常見的應用包括:切消刀具、錶帶的鍍層，另外還有其他需要低摩擦係數的應用，抱括硬碟以及引擎的零組件上，其中對於引擎零組件的應用上，可降低熱能的損失，提升燃料的使用率，本研究的含氫碳化鉻薄膜在耐磨領域有極大的應用潛力。

The potential use of chromium carbide films has been a great interest to academia and industry owing to their outstanding properties such as chemical stability, low coefficient of friction, and high wear resistance. For instance, they can be applied on high-speed cutting tools, and integrated circuit packaging. A number of deposition techniques have been proposed along with their advantages and drawbacks. Strictly speaking, a physical vapor deposition such as magnetron sputtering system might be considered as one of the best approaches. However, utilizing a conventional magnetron sputtering system would be tackled by its low ionization degree that leads to poorer film properties. Looking for a better deposition technique with high ionization degree is thus necessary.
A newly developed high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is characterized for its high peak current, high peak power density, and high plasma density. These characteristics are essential to achieve unique film properties such as high hardness, excellent adhesion quality, and high wear resistance. Accordingly, it is expected that HiPIMS apparatus can be used to fabricate chromium carbide films with improved film properties.
In this study, we have fabricated hydrogen contained chromium film through HiPIMS deposition system. In addition to the ionization issue, a proper control of the deposition parameters including acetylene (C2H2) gas flow rate and substrate bias were addressed. Meanwhile, different power supply systems including direct-current (DC), high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), and superimposed middle-frequency (MF)-HiPIMS were used. The Cr target poisoning status was controlled by a plasma emission monitoring (PEM) system by adjusting the gas flow ratio of Ar and acetylene. The results showed that the thin film sample prepared the by superimposed HiPIMS-MF process can reach the maximum hardness of ~27.5 GPa at PEM setpoint 30%. The hardening mechanism may be due to the appearance of CrC crystallites incorporated into amorphous CrCx matrix in the thin film, which resulted in the dispersion strengthening.

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