Hot oscillating pressure sintering W-Ti refractory alloy targets for integrated circuit chips under different sintering pressures

The density, grain size, and microstructural uniformity of tungsten-titanium (W-Ti) refractory alloy targets directly affect the quality of sputtered coatings. In this work, 90W-10Ti (mass fraction) alloy targets for integrated circuit chips were prepared by hot oscillatory pressing (HOP) sintering at pressures of 40, 50, and 60 MPa. The effects of sintering pressure on the microstructural evolution, densification behavior, and properties of the HOP-sintered alloy were investigated. The results showed that increasing the sintering pressure markedly improved the microstructural homogeneity of the alloy. Higher sintering pressure also significantly increased the relative density by accelerating densification, yielding a maximum relative density of 97.13%. Moreover, at a sintering pressure of 60 MPa, grain growth was effectively suppressed, and the average grain size reached 1.82 μm. The dominant densification mechanism shifted from lattice and grain-boundary diffusion at low pressure to plastic deformation at high pressure, as indicated by a stress exponent, n, greater than 3, thereby yielding a maximum Vickers hardness of 496.39 HV30 and a minimum corrosion current density (Icorr) of 8.63 × 10 −6 A/cm 2 . Increasing the HOP sintering pressure therefore enabled the effective preparation of W-Ti refractory alloy targets with high density, fine grains, high hardness, and excellent corrosion resistance.