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

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), Cr₂N (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), Cr₂N (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.