Structure of alumina oxide coatings deposited by impulse plasma method

Al 2 O 3 coatings were produced by the LPD method with the use of solid precursors of aluminium oxide. The coatings were deposited on non-heated substrates and on substrates heated from an external heat source at various geometries of the substrate/impulse plasma stream arrangement. Depending on the technological variant employed, the coatings obtained were composed of metastable or stable monotropic Al 2 O 3 phases. The process parameters also affected the morphology of the coatings. The IR, RS and XPS examinations of the atomic structure of the coatings, performed in the present study and in earlier investigations, have shown that the aluminium oxide coatings deposited from impulse plasma have a nanocrystalline amorphous structure. The phase composition and morphology of the coatings can be modified by heating the substrate in a stationary way during the IPD process, to a temperature of 500 K.