Abstract
The wetting behavior of titanium nitride (TiN) films with island-like nanostructures was investigated. The films were deposited on a Si(100) substrate by an ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). When the substrate was fixed perpendicular to the ion beam, the surface morphology of the film was smooth. In contrast, the out-of-plane rotation of the substrate during IBAD induced island-like nanostructures on the film surface. The size of island increased with a decrease in rotational rate of substrate. This resulted from self-shadowing effects due to the change in the incident angle of vapor flux. The static wetting contact angles of each sample were measured at least 5 times across the sample surface using the sessile drop method by dispensing 2μL drops of distilled water on the sample surfaces. TiN film with island-like nanostructured surface had more hydrophobic surface compared with that having smooth surface. Moreover, the water contact angle increased with an increase in surface roughness of island-like nanostructured TiN films. Therefore, it was concluded that the formation of island-like nanostructure in TiN film can control the wettability of TiN coated components.
