Effect of Sputtering Gas Pressure and Bias Voltage on Mechanical Properties of TiN Coating Deposited by DC Magnetron Sputtering

Author(s):  
Hirotaka Tanabe ◽  
Yoshio Miyoshi ◽  
Tohru Takamatsu ◽  
Hitoshi Awano ◽  
Takaaki Yamano

The mechanical properties of TiN films deposited on carbon steel JIS S45C by reactive dc magnetron sputtering under three sputtering gas pressures, 0.5Pa, 0.8Pa, and 1.76Pa were investigated. The residual stress once increased and then decreased with increasing bias voltage at 0.5Pa and 0.8Pa, but increased monotonously at 1.76Pa. These variations could be explained by the variations of the bombarding energy of a sputtered ion at each gas pressure. The variations of hardness and toughness correlated with the variation of residual stress. The variation of adhesive strength also could be explained by the variation of the bombarding energy with a model proposed in this study. A specific wear rate was also investigated, and it was found that to increase not only the hardness but also the adhesive strength is necessary to improve the wear resistance of TiN films.

2011 ◽  
Vol 189-193 ◽  
pp. 901-905
Author(s):  
Chang Wei Zou ◽  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Wei Xie ◽  
Le Xi Shao

CrN films with deposition rates of 30-190 nm/min were deposited on Si (111) substrates by middle-frequency magnetron sputtering methods. XRD, SEM, EDS and microhardness tests were used to investigate the effects of bias voltages and total gas pressure on the structure and mechanical properties of the resulting CrN films. With the increasing of bias voltages and total gas pressure, the preferential diffraction orientation changed from (111) to (200). A smooth surface was observed by the SEM experiments and the thickness of the film was about 2 µm. The deposition rates and Cr content of resulting films were highly influenced by the magnitude of the bias voltage and total gas pressure. RMS and Ra properties of the CrN films increased when increased total gas pressure or decreased bias voltage. CrN films produced under optimal conditions have an almost 1:1 Cr:N ratio as determined by EDS. The hardness of the CrN film increased from 2200 to 2700 HV when increased the bias voltages from 0 to 200 V.


2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meiling Dong ◽  
Xiufang Cui ◽  
Guo Jin ◽  
Haidou Wang ◽  
Lina Zhu ◽  
...  

Purpose – The aim of the present paper is to investigate the mechanical performance of multi-layer films. With the wide application of optic and electronic thin-films, membrane materials and membrane technology have become one of the most active fields of research in contemporary materials science (Dumont et al., 1997). Multi-layer films have evolved as candidates for these applications because of their unique properties. TiN and Ti/TiN multi-layer films were fabricated using the DC magnetron sputtering method. A nano-indentation tester and electronic film distribution tester were utilized to evaluate the mechanical properties and residual stress of the films. The existence of interface effects on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the films were analyzed. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the Ti/TiN multi-layer films were fabricated using the DC magnetron sputtering method. The films were deposited on polished 45# steels. Ti was used as the sputtering target. Ar and N2 were applied as working and reactive gases, respectively. Surface morphology was measured using transmission electron microscopy. The composition was analyzed using D8 X-ray diffraction. Nano-indentation tests were performed using Nanoindenter G200 with a Berkovich indenter. A BGS 6341 electronic film stress distribution tester was used to measure the distribution of stress in the films. Findings – The film surface was very smooth and the structure was very dense. The elastic modulus and micro-hardness of Ti/TiN multi-layer films were smaller, compared to those of the TiN film. Furthermore, both of these parameters initially decreased and later increased, with a decrease in the modulation period. The residual stress in the film was compressive. The corrosion resistance properties of TiN films were the best in NaCl solution, less so in alkaline solution and worst in acid solution. For the Ti/TiN multi-layer films tested in an acid medium, the corrosion resistance performance was better when the modulation period was decreased to micron grade under exposure conditions at ambient temperature. Originality/value – In the present paper, the Ti/TiN multi-layer films were fabricated using PVD with different variations, and the influence on the performance of Ti/TiN multi-layer films due to each single layer period of TiN was studied. The findings should provide useful guidelines for the preparation of high quality Ti/TiN multi-layer thin films.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinlong Jiang ◽  
Qiong Wang ◽  
Yubao Wang ◽  
Zhang Xia ◽  
Hua Yang ◽  
...  

The titanium- and silicon-codoped a-C:H films were prepared at different applied bias voltage by magnetron sputtering TiSi target in argon and methane mixture atmosphere. The influence of the applied bias voltage on the composition, surface morphology, structure, and mechanical properties of the films was investigated by XPS, AFM, Raman, FTIR spectroscopy, and nanoindenter. The tribological properties of the films were characterized on an UMT-2MT tribometer. The results demonstrated that the film became smoother and denser with increasing the applied bias voltage up to −200 V, whereas surface roughness increased due to the enhancement of ion bombardment as the applied bias voltage further increased. The sp3carbon fraction in the films monotonously decreased with increasing the applied bias voltage. The film exhibited moderate hardness and the superior tribological properties at the applied bias voltage of −100 V. The tribological behaviors are correlated to the H/E or H3/E2ratio of the films.


2015 ◽  
Vol 662 ◽  
pp. 107-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Novák ◽  
František Lofaj ◽  
Petra Hviščová ◽  
Rudolf Podoba ◽  
Marián Haršáni ◽  
...  

The effects of residual stresses in thin W-C based coatings were investigated with the aim to find their influence on nanohardness and indentation modulus. Ten samples of W-C based coatings were deposited on microslide glass substrates using DC magnetron sputtering at the identical deposition parameters. Their thickness was in the range from 500 to 600 nm. The residual stresses in the coatings varied from 1.5 GPa up to 4.4 GPa. Increase of residual stress caused linear increase of HITfrom 16 to 19.5 GPa. This increase was only the result of the compressive stresses. EITof the studied coatings was not sensitive to residual stresses and corresponded to 185 GPa ± 15 GPa.


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