Preparation and characterization of niobium nitride thin films by radio frequency sputtering method onto medical grade Ti6Al4V alloy

Abstract

Niobium Nitride (NbN) nano-thin films using in various applications owing to NbN's hardness, have excellent corrosion and abrasion resistance, and thermal stability. In this study, NbN coatings were deposited onto Ti6Al4V substrates to improve their biocompatibility using a Radio Frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique. The impact of sputtering power and substrate temperature on the structure and grain size of NbN nanoparticle thin films were investigated.The various working sputtering powers were (80, 120, and 160) W and substrate temperatures (40, 125, and 200) ºC. Surface morphology, phase, and polymorphism properties of the prepared films were analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy.The XRD results indicated a cubic polycrystalline structure, with an average crystallite size of (11-25) nm. AFM images confirmed that, the NbN thin films exhibited spherical grains evenly distributed. FESEM micrographs illustrated that the deposited coating layers consisted of NbN nanoparticles with a uniform, homogeneous distribution and particle sizes of (17.86 to 55.82) nm.