Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Boron-alloy coatings can be formed by sputtering compound targets, through co-deposition with other elemental targets, by utilizing reactive gas mixtures, and/or by post-deposition implantation. Specific to this study, boron-alloy coatings are assessed with respect to composition as deposited by co-sputtering boron and beryllium. Transmission electron microscope (TEM), bright-field images with selected area diffraction are used to reveal the microstructure and phase. Refinement in grain size to the nanoscale occurs through boron addition as well as transition metal impurities. An increase in coating hardness with boron addition is measured using nanoindentation. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), secondary electron images reveal the surface morphology variations for thick coatings that occur with boron addition as measured using energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The phase formed in boron-alloyed beryllium coating is found to be dependent on both coating composition and the sputter deposition conditions. It is concluded that the geometry of the deposition sources with the configuration of the substrate effect the coating composition, microstructure, and properties