Effect of film thickness on the electrical properties of WN coated Al substrates

Abstract Tungsten nitride (WN) coatings were deposited on Al substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering to study their structural and electrical behaviours. The films exhibited stable nitride phases without detectable Al–W intermetallics. By varying deposition time from 15 to 45 min, the coating thickness increased from ∼0.6 μm to ∼1.1 μm, while AFM analysis showed increase in surface roughness. Electrical contact resistance (ECR) measurements revealed significant improvement: coated samples showed 0.439–0.532 Ω compared to 0.861 Ω for bare Al. These results demonstrate that WN coatings enhance both stability and conductivity, highlighting their potential for electronic and protective applications.