Surface free energy of CrNx films deposited using closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering

Abstract CrN x thin films have attracted much attention for semiconductor IC packaging molding dies and forming tools due to their excellent hardness, thermal stability and non-sticking properties (low surface free energy). However, few data has been published on the surface free energy (SFE) of CrN x films at temperatures in the range 20–170 °C. In this study CrN x thin films with CrN, Cr(N), Cr 2 N (and mixture of these phases) were prepared using closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering at a wide range of Cr +2 emission intensity. The contact angles of water, di-iodomethane and ethylene glycol on the coated surfaces were measured at temperatures in the range 20–170 °C using a Dataphysics OCA-20 contact angle analyzer. The surface free energy of the CrN x films and their components (e.g., dispersion, polar) were calculated using the Owens–Wendt geometric mean approach. The influences of CrN x film surface roughness and microstructure on the surface free energy were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The experimental results showed that the lowest total SFE was obtained corresponding to CrN at temperature in 20 °C. This is lower than that of Cr(N), Cr 2 N (and mixture of these phases). The total SFE, dispersive SFE and polar SFE of CrN x films decreased with increasing surface temperature. The film roughness has an obvious effect on the SFE and there is tendency for the SFE to increase with increasing film surface roughness.