Surface, Structural, and Mechanical Properties Enhancement of Cr2O3 and SiO2 Co-Deposited Coatings with W or Be

Mihail Lungu; Daniel Cristea; Flaviu Baiasu; Cornel Staicu; Alexandru Marin; Oana Gloria Pompilian; Bogdan Butoi; Claudiu Locovei; Corneliu Porosnicu

doi:10.3390/nano12162870

Surface, Structural, and Mechanical Properties Enhancement of Cr₂O₃ and SiO₂ Co-Deposited Coatings with W or Be

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Aug 20;12(16):2870. doi: 10.3390/nano12162870.

Authors

Mihail Lungu¹, Daniel Cristea², Flaviu Baiasu^{1

3}, Cornel Staicu^{1

3}, Alexandru Marin^{4

5}, Oana Gloria Pompilian¹, Bogdan Butoi¹, Claudiu Locovei^{3

6}, Corneliu Porosnicu¹

Affiliations

¹ National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Magurele, Romania.
² Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Transilvania University, 500068 Brasov, Romania.
³ Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, 077125 Magurele, Romania.
⁴ Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA.
⁵ Surface Analysis Laboratory, Institute for Nuclear Research Pitesti, 115400 Mioveni, Romania.
⁶ Magnetism and Superconductivity Laboratory, National Institute of Materials Physics (NIMP), 077125 Magurele, Romania.

Abstract

Direct current (DC) and radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering methods were selected for conducting the deposition of structural materials, namely ceramic and metallic co-depositions. A total of six configurations were deposited: single thin layers of oxides (Cr₂O₃, SiO₂) and co-deposition configurations (50:50 wt.%) as structural materials (W, Be)-(Cr₂O₃, SiO₂), all deposited on 304L stainless steel (SS). A comprehensive evaluation such as surface topology, thermal desorption outgassing, and structural/chemical state was performed. Moreover, mechanical characterization evaluating properties such as adherence, nano indentation hardness, indentation modulus, and deformation relative to yielding, was performed. Experimental results show that, contrary to SiO₂ matrix, the composite layers of Cr₂O₃ with Be and W exhibit surface smoothing with mitigation of artifacts, thus presenting a uniform and compact state with the best microstructure. These results are relevant in order to develop future dense coatings to be used in the fusion domain.

Keywords: beryllium; chemical state; chromium oxide; crystalline structure; hardness and adhesion; metal-oxide; morphology and roughness; silicon dioxide; thin films; tungsten.

Abstract

Grants and funding