Prepared Low Stress Cubic Boron Nitride Film by Physical Vapor Deposition

We present low stress cubic boron nitride (cBN) films with a transition layer deposited on the metal alloy substrates by tuned substrate radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The IR peak position of cubic boron nitride at 1006.3 cm⁻¹, which is close to the stressless state, indicates that the film has very low internal stress. The TEM image shows that pure CBN phase exists on the surface of the film. Several phases of boron nitride were found at the medium implantation dose. It is believed that the transition from the low ordered phases to cBN phase occurred during implantation.