In one aspect, refractory coatings are described herein having multiple cubic phases. In some embodiments, a coating comprises a refractory layer of TiAlN deposited by PVD adhered to the substrate, the refractory layer comprising a cubic TiAlN phase and a cubic A1N phase, wherein a ratio of intensity in the X-ray diffractogram (XRD) of a (200) reflection of the cubic AlN phase to intensity of a (200) reflection of the cubic TiAlN phase, I(200)/I(200), is at least 0.5.

The present invention relates to a solar selective coating for a metal substrate comprising at least one absorber layer and at least one semi-absorber layer selected from the structures of AlTiN and AlTiSiN. In preferred embodiments, the solar selective coating according to the present invention is a double layer coating with AlTiN—AlTiN or AlTiSiN—AlTiSiN formation. The process for producing the coating includes a step of treatment of the metal substrate with a reactive magnetron sputtering system.

A method of depositing a film on a substrate is provided. The method includes positioning the substrate on a substrate support in a chamber and depositing the film on the substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering process in which an electrical bias signal causes ions to bombard the substrate. The substrate support includes a central region surrounded by an edge region, the central region being raised with respect to the edge region, and the substrate is positioned on the central region so that a portion of the substrate overlays the edge region and is spaced apart therefrom.

A method of depositing an AlN thin film according to an embodiment of the disclosure comprises: a step of forming an insulating layer on a base substrate; and a step of depositing an AlN thin film on the insulating layer through a sputtering process, wherein the step of depositing the AlN thin film is performed through a continuous deposition type, at lower than a CMOS-compatible process temperature and in a state of applying a bias positive voltage to the base substrate such that the AlN thin film has an adjustable deposition thickness. Therefore, an embodiment of the disclosure is advantageous in that an AlN thin film having excellent piezo characteristics can be obtained at a low process temperature compatible with a CMOS process.

The present invention provides a method for depositing an ultra-thin film onto a wafer. The method comprising the following steps. A sputtering chamber is provided wherein the sputtering chamber is collectively defined by a wafer handling apparatus and a magnetron. The wafer is placed onto a wafer chuck of the wafer handling apparatus. The wafer chuck is moved to a first distance to the magnetron. A gas is introduced into the sputtering chamber such that the gas is separated into a plasma, wherein the plasma includes gas ions. A first negative potential is applied to at least one sputtering target of the magnetron while the wafer chuck with the wafer is at the first distance to the magnetron. The wafer chuck is moved to a second distance to the magnetron. A second negative potential is applied to at least one sputtering target of the magnetron while the wafer chuck with the wafer is at the second distance to the magnetron. The wafer is removed from the wafer chuck after the application of the second negative potential to at least one sputtering target of the magnetron.

A group III nitride single crystal substrate including a main surface, the main surface including: a center; a periphery; an outer region whose distance from the center is greater than 30% of a first distance, the first distance being a distance from the center to the periphery; and an inner region whose distance from the center is no more than 30% of the first distance, wherein a ratio (ν.sub.A−ν.sub.B)/ν.sub.B is within the range of ±0.1%, wherein ν.sub.A is a minimum value of peak wave numbers of micro-Raman spectra in the inner region; and ν.sub.B is an average value of peak wave numbers of micro-Raman spectra in the outer region.

The present invention relates to a coated substrate comprising a substrate surface coated with a coating comprising at least one layer, wherein the at least one layer comprises titanium, aluminum and nitrogen, wherein—the content of aluminum in relation to the content of titanium in the at least one layer comprising titanium, aluminum and nitrogen satisfy Al/Ti>1 by considering only the respective concentrations in atomic percentage of aluminum and titanium in the at least one layer comprising titanium, aluminum and nitrogen, and—the at least one layer comprising titanium, aluminum and nitrogen exhibits wurtzite phase of aluminum nitride and rutile phase of titanium oxide.

To improve the adhesion resistance and wear resistance of a surface-coated cutting tool. The surface-coated cutting tool includes a tool substrate, and a single-component coating layer composed of a composite nitride of Cr (chromium), Al (aluminum), and V (vanadium) and disposed on the surface of the tool substrate. The composite nitride is characterized by being represented by a compositional formula: Cr.sub.aAl.sub.bV.sub.cN satisfying the following relations:
0.11≤a≤0.26;
0.73≤b≤0.85;
0<c≤0.04; and
a+b+c≤1
(wherein a, b, and c each represent an atomic proportion). The single-component coating layer has both a hexagonal phase and a cubic phase.

To provide a surface-coated cutting tool exhibiting excellent wear resistance in a high-speed cutting process and having prolonged service life. The surface-coated cutting tool includes a tool substrate containing WC crystal grains and insulating grains, and a coating layer composed of a multiple nitride of Ti, Al, and V and disposed on the surface of the tool substrate. The multiple nitride is represented by a compositional formula: Ti.sub.aAl.sub.bV.sub.cN satisfying the following relations:

0.25≤a≤0.35,

0.64≤b≤0.74,

0<c≤0.06, and

a+b+c=1

(wherein each of a, b, and c represents an atomic proportion). The coating layer is characterized by exhibiting a peak attributed to a hexagonal crystal phase and a peak attributed to a cubic crystal phase as observed through X-ray diffractometry.

A surface-coated cutting tool includes a substrate and a coating film. The coating film includes an alternate layer. The alternate layer includes a first layer having a first composition and a second layer having a second composition. The alternate layer is formed by alternately stacking at least one first layer and at least one second layer. The first layer and the second layer each have a thickness not smaller than 2 nm and not greater than 100 nm. The first composition is expressed as Ti.sub.aAl.sub.bSi.sub.cN (0.25≤a≤0.45, 0.55≤b≤0.75, 0≤c≤0.1, a+b+c=1). The second composition is expressed as Ti.sub.dAl.sub.eSi.sub.fN (0.35≤d≤0.55, 0.45≤e≤0.65, 0≤f≤0.1, d+e+f=1). The first composition and the second composition satisfy a condition of 0.05≤d−a≤0.2 and 0.05≤b−e≤0.2.