Structure and properties of Ti-Si-N coatings synthesized by combining cathode arc and middle-frequency magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Ti-Si-N composite coatings were synthesized on a novel combining cathode and middle-frequency magnetron sputtering system, designed on an industrial scale. Ti was produced from the arc target and Si from magnetron target during deposition. The influences of negative bias voltage and Si content on the hardness and microstructure of the coatings were investigated. The composite coatings prepared under optimized conditions were characterized to be nc-TiN/a-Si₃N₄ structure with grain sizes of TiN ranging from 8–15 nm and exhibited a high hardness of 40 GPa. The enhancement of the hardness is suggested to be caused by the nanograin-amorphous structure effects.

Keywords

Ti-Si-N composite coatings / cathode assisted middle-frequency magnetron sputtering / hardness / structure

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