Deposition of a titanium carbonitride coating by magnetron sputtering on a substrate with a potential voltage

Titanium carbonitride (TiCN) is of high relevance in the field of creating wear-resistant protective coatings in order to ensure maximum wear resistance and service life of parts of friction units. Titanium carbonitride coatings were obtained by magnetron sputtering at various bias substrate in the range from 0 to -130 V with a step of 10 V. The effect of the bias substrate on the deposition rate, phase and elemental composition, and the friction coefficient of the obtained coatings was investigated. As a result of the obtained dependences, the most optimal mode of deposition by the method of reactive magnetron sputtering with a negative bias voltage on the substrate was determined.

Effect of Negative Bias Voltage on Tribological Properties under High Relative Humidity Environment and Corrosion Resistance of Boron Carbide Coatings

Humid air is a very important service environment, in which metal friction parts should be enhanced to offer excellent corrosion resistance and wear resistance. The B4C coating is an excellent candidate material to enhance the corrosion resistance and tribological behaviors. The purpose is to investigate the effect of negative bias voltages on the tribological properties of B4C coatings under a high relative humidity environment. Amorphous B4C coatings were successfully prepared by closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering technology and its microstructure, hardness, elastic modulus, adhesive force and tribological properties were systematically studied. Results demonstrate that the B4C coatings deposited at each negative bias voltage have a columnar structure and the surface roughness remained unchanged (about 1.0 nm), while the thickness, hardness, elastic modulus and adhesion force increase first and then decrease with the negative bias voltage increasing. Among them, the B4C (−50 V) coating showed the best mechanical properties. It should be noted that the B4C (−50 V) coating with an excellent corrosion resistance also exhibits the lowest friction coefficient (~0.15) and wear resistance (7.2 × 10−7 mm3·N−1·m−1) under humid air (85% RH). This is mainly due to the tribochemical reaction of B4C during a sliding process to produce boric acid at the sliding interface. B4C coatings can provide an excellent corrosion resistance and high wear resistance due to their high chemical stability and high hardness.

Effect of Bias Voltage on Mechanical Properties of HiPIMS/RFMS Cosputtered Zr–Si–N Films

Zr–Si–N films with atomic ratios of N/(Zr + Si) of 0.54–0.82 were fabricated through high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS)–radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS) cosputtering by applying an average HiPIMS power of 300 W on the Zr target, various RF power levels on the Si target, and negative bias voltage levels of 0–150 V connected to the substrate holder. Applying a negative bias voltage on substrates enhanced the ion bombardment effect, which affected the chemical compositions, mechanical properties, and residual stress of the Zr–Si–N films. The results indicated that Zr–Si–N films with Si content ranging from 1.4 to 6.3 atom % exhibited a high hardness level of 33.2–34.6 GPa accompanied with a compressive stress of 4.3–6.4 GPa, an H/E* level of 0.080–0.107, an H3/E*2 level of 0.21–0.39 GPa, and an elastic recovery of 62–72%.

Structure, morphology and mechanical properties of AlCrN coatings obtained by the method of cathodic arc evaporation

CrAlN coatings have been formed on steel substrates (HS6-5-2) using cathodic arc evaporation. The influence of nitrogen pres-sure and substrate bias voltage on the properties of CrAlN coatings formed from Al80Cr20 cathode, such as: chemical and phase composition of the coatings, their surface morphology, deposition rate, hardness and adhesion to the substrate have been investigated. It has been determined that the rate of the deposition of coatings in the nitrogen atmosphere with the pressure of 3 Pa is the highest and that with the increase of the negative bias voltage of the substrate the deposition rate decreases. The roughness parameter Ra of the coating surface decreases as the nitrogen pressure increases during their formation. Presumably, this is related to the reduction of the amount of macroparticles on the surface of the coating. The hardness of the coatings (taking into account the measurement uncertainty) is independent of the nitrogen pressure, but it increases with the increase of the negative bias voltage of the substrate. The adhesion of the coating increases with the increase of the nitrogen pressure to 3–4 Pa, and then it decreases. The increase in the negative bias voltage of the substrate during the formation of the coating deteriorates its adhesion to the substrate.

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of CrN Coatings Deposited by HIPIMS

CrN coatings have been widely used in many industrial fields, such as cutting tools, moulds, mechanical components. In this work, CrN coatings were deposited using a high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) with various negative bias voltages. The composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the coatings were studied using X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and nanoindenter. The cutting performance of the micro drills coated in CrN was also investigated by high speeding dry drilling printed circuit board (PCB). The results show that the bias voltage has significant influences on the microstructure and properties of the as-deposited films. Increasing negative bias voltages resulted in the microstructures refining of the CrN coatings with columnar grains. Further increasing the negative bias voltage caused the formation of defects in CrN. With optimization of the negative bias voltage, the micro-drills with CrN deposited by HIPIMS exhibited an excellent tool life comparing with the uncoated one.

Properties of Boron Doped Amorphous Carbon Films at -30 V and -50 V for Carbon Based Solar Cell Applications

The a-C:B film were prepared by mixing vapor of hydrocarbon palm oil, boron dopant, carrier gas, and argon in the chamber deposited at -30 V and -50 V of negative bias voltage. The effect of these negative bias voltage on the thickness, electrical and electronic properties of a-C:B film were investigated. It was observed, the optical band gap slightly changed (2.0 eV to 2.04 eV). The fabricated solar cell with the configuration of Au/p-C:B/n-Si/Au achieved conversion efficiency (η) of 0.192% at applied bias voltage of -50 V. This result showed by the applied of negative bias voltage can controlled the interstitial doping of boron in the amorphous carbon films network.