COMBINED X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON AUGER-ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY GLANCING ANGLE X-RAY-DIFFRACTION EXTENDED X-RAY-ABSORPTION FINE-STRUCTURE INVESTIGATION OF TIBXNY COATINGS

Ti-B-N coatings with stoichiometries corresponding to a region of the phase diagram in which a three phase TiB2+TiN+BN composition is predic ted, have been deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. Characteriz ation of the films by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger el ectron spectroscopy (AES), glancing angle x-ray diffraction (GAXRD), a nd extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) has been performed to provide information on chemical composition and microstructure. GA XRD and EXAFS have shown the Ti based phases to be dominated by the pr esence of nanocrystalline TiB2, the grain size of which decreases to a n unmeasurably low value with increasing N content. Evidence of TiB2, TiN, and BN bonding is found in the XPS spectra and the inferred phase composition has been found to be in good agreement with that predicte d by the phase diagram. From XPS and AES spectra, the BN phase present has been concluded to be of the hexagonal type. (C) 1997 American Vac uum Society.