Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Sc3AlN with perovskite structure has been synthesized as the first ternary phase in the Sc-Al-N system. Magnetron sputter epitaxy at 650 °C was used to grow single-crystal, stoichiometric Sc3AlN(111) thin films onto MgO(111) substrates with ScN(111) seed layers as shown by elastic recoil detection analysis, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The Sc3AlN phase has a lattice parameter of 4.40 Å, which is in good agreement with the theoretically predicted 4.42 Å. Comparisons of total formation energies show that Sc3AlN is thermodynamically stable with respect to all known binary compounds. Sc3AlN(111) films of 1.75 µm thickness exhibit a nanoindentation hardness of 14.2 GPa, an elastic modulus of 249 GPa, and a room-temperature electrical resistivity of 41.2 µΩ cm.