Tribological study of hafnium dioxide and aluminium oxide films grown by atomic layer deposition on glass substrate

In the present work we studied the mechanical properties of hafnium dioxide (HfO2) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3) thin films deposited on glass at low temperature by means of atomic layer deposition method. The scratch resistance and tribological properties of HfO2 and Al2O3 were investigated. During scratch tests the first small cracks in the films were detected with a relatively low load of 3.4–4.9 N. However, up to a load of 30 N, crushing, cracking, and delamination of the Al2O3/glass system not occurs. The tribological experiments revealed a significant difference in the wear between the HfO2 and Al2O3 films. The microcrystalline structure observed for HfO2 resulted in better tribological properties than the Al2O3 film. The addition of a thin zinc oxide interlayer significantly improved the mechanical properties of the system with HfO2 film.