Short Course

Short Course (I)

Topic:

Coating Materials Design

Date/Time/Place: 

(1) 14:00-17:00, Oct. 25
(2) 09:00-12:00, Oct. 26

Content:

This tutorial explores the integration of theoretical and experimental strategies for designing metastable coating materials to meet specific mechanical and thermal requirements. The tutorial is subdivided into two sections of 3 hours each.

In the first section we will discuss the incorporation of impurities during thin-film growth and their implications for elastic properties. As a model system, we will examine the intentional addition of oxygen to transition metal aluminum nitrides and its effects on both mechanical properties and thermal stability.

In the second section the formation of metastable thin film materials is predicted, and the predictions are compared to experimental data. Here, TiAlN and VAlN serve as model systems.

Key techniques, such as density functional theory (DFT) calculations and high-resolution structural and chemical analysis, will be briefly introduced in the context of materials design. 

Course Objectives

Provide a first exposure of MSc and PhD students to combined theoretical and experimental strategies for designing metastable coating materials to meet specific mechanical and thermal requirements.

Course Description

In this flipped classroom tutorial, participants are encouraged to review key publications beforehand, enabling in-depth discussions during the tutorial. The corresponding PDF’s will be provided. Also, the lecture slides will be provided after the lecture.

Course content

The course is based on the following publications:

Section 1:

  • J.M. Schneider, A. Anders, B. Hjörvarsson, and L. Hultman
    Magnetic-field-dependent plasma composition of a pulsed arc in a high-vacuum ambient
    Applied Physics Letters 76(12) (2000) 1531-1533.
    [doi.org/10.1063/1.126086]
  • J.M. Schneider, B. Hjörvarsson, X. Wang, and L. Hultman
    On the effect of hydrogen incorporation in strontium titanate layers grown by high vacuum magnetron sputtering
    Applied Physics Letters 75(22) (1999) 3476-3478.
    [doi.org/10.1063/1.125301]
  • J.M. Schneider, A. Anders, B. Hjörvarsson, I. Petrov, K. Macák, U. Helmersson, and J.-E. Sundgren
    Hydrogen uptake in alumina thin films synthesized from an aluminum plasma stream in an oxygen ambient
    Applied Physics Letters 74(2) (1999) 200-202.
    [doi.org/10.1063/1.123292]
  • K.P. Shaha, H. Rueβ, S. Rotert, M. to Baben, D. Music, and J.M. Schneider
    Nonmetal sublattice population induced defect structure in transition metal aluminum oxynitrides
    Applied Physics Letters 103(22) (2013) 221905.
    [doi.org/10.1063/1.4833835]
  • M. Hans, M. to Baben, D. Music, J. Ebenhöch, D. Primetzhofer, D. Kurapov, M. Arndt, H. Rudigier, and J.M. Schneider
    Effect of oxygen incorporation on the structure and elasticity of Ti-Al-O-N coatings synthesized by cathodic arc and high power pulsed magnetron sputtering
    Journal of Applied Physics 116(9) (2014) 093515.
    [doi.org/10.1063/1.4894776]
  • D.M. Holzapfel, D. Music, M. Hans, S. Wolff-Goodrich, D. Holec, D. Bogdanovski, M. Arndt, A.O. Eriksson, K. Yalamanchili, D. Primetzhofer, C.H. Liebscher, and J.M. Schneider
    Enhanced thermal stability of (Ti,Al)N coatings by oxygen incorporation
    Acta Materialia 218 (2021) 117204.
    [doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117204]

Section 2: 

  • S. Liu, K. Chang, S. Mráz, X. Chen, M. Hans, D. Music, D. Primetzhofer, and J.M. Schneider
    Modeling of metastable phase formation for sputtered Ti1-xAlxN thin films
    Acta Materialia 165 (2019) 615-625.
    [doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.12.004]
  • S. Liu, K. Chang, D. Music, X. Chen, S. Mráz, D. Bogdanovski, M. Hans, D. Primetzhofer, and J.M. Schneider
    Stress-dependent prediction of metastable phase formation for magnetron-sputtered V1−xAlxN and Ti1−xAlxN thin films
    Acta Materialia 196 (2020) 313-324.
    [doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2020.06.044]

Lecturer:

Prof. Jochen Schneider
Materials Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GERMANY

Short Curriculum Vitae

Jochen M. Schneider is Professor of Materials Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. His research focuses on the quantum-mechanically guided design of thin films with tailored thermal and chemical stability, as well as elasticity. He also designs self-reporting materials. In 2001, Jochen was awarded the Sofya Kovalevskaya Prize by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He was named a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS) in 2013 and, in 2015, was appointed as a Max Planck Fellow. That same year, he was honored as an RWTH Fellow. In 2020, Jochen received the Bill Sproul Award and Honorary ICMCTF Lectureship. He was further recognized in 2022 with the Rudolf Jaeckel Award from the German Vacuum and most recently, in 2023, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate by the Faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University, Sweden. Jochen has supervised 42 Ph.D. graduates and advised 28 postdoctoral researchers.

Short Course (II)

Topic: 

X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Date/Time/Place: 

14:00-16:00, Oct. 28 (online)

Content:

Course Objectives

After successful completion of the course the students will:

  • understand the theory and practice of the surface analysis by XPS
  • appreciate the possibilities and limitations of the XPS technique
  • be able to critically assess research in which XPS has been applied
  • understand and interpret results obtained with XPS

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to give an in-depth introduction and understanding of the most commonly used analytical method for elemental and chemical analysis of the near-surface region, namely X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA). The aim of the course is to obtain:

  • a comprehensive understanding of XPS
  • a good knowledge of involved theoretical aspects
  • systematic knowledge of current practices in the analysis of surfaces
  • a knowledge on the used analytical equipment

The course will be based on the recent XPS review papers:

  1. G. Greczynski and L. Hultman, "X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy: towards reliable binding energy referencing", Progress in Materials Science 107 (2020) 100591
  2. G. Greczynski, L. Hultman ”A step-by-step guide to perform X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy”, J. Appl. Phys. 132 (2022) 011101
  3. G. Greczynski, R.T. Haasch, N. Hellgren, E. Lewin, L. Hultman, ”X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of thin films”, Nature Reviews Methods Primers 3 (2023) 40
  4. G. Greczynski and L. Hultman, ”Binding energy referencing in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy”, Nature Reviews Materials 10 (2025) 62

Course content

  • Basic principles
  • Sample preparation and handling
  • Instrument setup
  • Data acquisition
  • Spectra analysis and interpretation
  • Results presentation
  • Applications examples
  • Examples of artifacts
  • Recent developments

Lecturer:

Prof. Grzegorz Greczynski
Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), SWEDEN

Short Curriculum Vitae

Grzegorz (Greg) Greczynski is Professor in the Department of Physics, Linköping University (LiU) and the head of the Fundamental Science of Thin Films Group. He has nearly 30 years-long experience with XPS. He wrote several top-cited XPS papers featured as the “hot paper” and the “highly cited paper” on the Web of Science website. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles that have been cited more than 15000 times (~3200 citations during 2024 only, h index of 50). He has served as the program chair and the general chair for International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMCTF). He is presently Chair Elect of the Advanced Surface Engineering Division of American Vacuum Society and will serve as the General Chair in 2025. In 2018 he was nominated Fellow of the American Vacuum Society for "seminal contributions to nondestructive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) surface analysis, and the development of novel next-generation HiPIMS metal-ion deposition techniques". From 2023 Greczynski is included in the prestigious “World’s top 2% scientist” list of Stanford University.