Abstract
TiN coatings have been widely used in various tribological applications. However, TiN coatings predominantly grow with a columnar grain structure, and these columnar grain boundaries become the sites for crack initiation, resulting in premature failure of TiN coatings. In this paper, we report the use of amorphous SiNx to periodically interrupt the growth of TiN in order to suppress the columnar structure. The growth was performed in a dual-cathode unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering system. The resulting TiN/SiNx multilayer coatings, when deposited under optimum conditions (TiN layer thickness = 2.0 nm, SiNx layer thickness = 0.5 nm and substrate bias = -80 to -90 V) are smooth and exhibit an equiaxed grain structure with no evidence of columnar growth. The highest hardness is in excess of 45 GPa.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 209-214 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Surface and Coatings Technology |
Volume | 146-147 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2001 |
Keywords
- Columnar structure
- Equiaxed structure
- Internal stress
- Surface roughness
- TiN/SiN multilayer hard coatings
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Materials Chemistry