Microstructure Controlling and Properties of TiAlSiN Nanocomposite Coatings Deposited by Modulated Pulsed Power Magnetron Sputtering

doi:10.15541/jim20150096

Abstract

Abstract:

TiAlSiN nanocomposite coatings were deposited by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering (MPPMS) from TiAlSi targets with the Al/(Al+Ti) atomic ratios (x) of 0.25, 0.5 and 0.67. The targets were powered by average sputtering power of 1-4 kW under work pressure of 0.3 Pa with a nitrogen addition of 25%. All of the TiAlSiN coatings with a nitrogen content of 52.0at%~56.7at% possessed an nc-TiAlN/a-Si₃N₄/AlN nanocomposite structure. As x increased, the percentage of amorphous phases was increased, meanwhile the hardness of the coatings firstly increased and then decreased. In the TiAlSiN coating with x =0.5, a highest hardness of 28.7 GPa was detected. Improvement in average sputtering power could prompt the formation of a complete phase separation nanocomposite coatings with a constant grain size. With x =0.67 under average sputtering power from 1 kW to 4 kW, the hardness of the coatings increased from 16.4 GPa to 21.3 GPa. A low wear rate of about (0.13-6.25) ×10^-5 mm³/(N·m) was detected in the TiAlSiN coatings with different Al contents as a function of the average sputtering power. An optimized wear resistance was identified in the TiAlSiN coatings deposited by MPPMS under average sputtering power of 2 kW at x =0.5.

Key words: modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering, TiAlSiN, microstructure, hardness, wear

CLC Number:

TG174

WU Zhi-Li, LI Yu-Ge, WU Bi, LEI Ming-Kai. Microstructure Controlling and Properties of TiAlSiN Nanocomposite Coatings Deposited by Modulated Pulsed Power Magnetron Sputtering[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2015, 30(12): 1254-1260.

Figures/Tables 8

References 25

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x	Pulsing parameters							Deposition conditions
	τ_total	τ_weak1	(τ_off/τ_on)	τ_weak2	(τ_off/τ_on)	τ_strong	(τ_off/τ_on)	P_a	P_p	I_p	V_p
	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/kW	/kW	/A	/V
0.25	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	2	58.78	135.73	411.83
0.50	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/12	2	69.61	146.48	480.65
0.67	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	2	58.11	127.12	430.66
0.67	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	4	60.66	133.38	449.18
0.67	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	1	65.30	143.81	445.07

x	Pulsing parameters							Deposition conditions
	τ_total	τ_weak1	(τ_off/τ_on)	τ_weak2	(τ_off/τ_on)	τ_strong	(τ_off/τ_on)	P_a	P_p	I_p	V_p
	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/μs	/kW	/kW	/A	/V
0.25	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	2	58.78	135.73	411.83
0.50	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/12	2	69.61	146.48	480.65
0.67	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	2	58.11	127.12	430.66
0.67	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	4	60.66	133.38	449.18
0.67	1000	200	54/6	300	34/6	500	10/10	1	65.30	143.81	445.07

x	P_a/kW	Composition/at%
x	P_a/kW	N	Al	Si	Ti
0.25	2	52.0	10.7	8.5	28.8
0.50	2	56.7	22.7	2.3	18.3
0.67	2	53.4	22.7	12.7	11.2
0.67	4	53.5	22.6	12.6	11.2
0.67	1	53.4	22.7	13.6	10.3

x	P_a/kW	Composition/at%
x	P_a/kW	N	Al	Si	Ti
0.25	2	52.0	10.7	8.5	28.8
0.50	2	56.7	22.7	2.3	18.3
0.67	2	53.4	22.7	12.7	11.2
0.67	4	53.5	22.6	12.6	11.2
0.67	1	53.4	22.7	13.6	10.3

x	P_a/kW	Hardness/GPa	SD	Young’s modulus/GPa	SD	Wear rate /(×10^-5, mm³·N^-1·m^-1)
0.25	2	21.8	1.3	262.3	18.5	6.3
0.50	2	28.7	3.3	329.1	46.4	4.2
0.67	2	18.0	0.2	216.5	3.8	0.6
0.67	4	21.3	1.1	228.2	10.7	1.3
0.67	1	16.5	0.7	193.3	11.2	4.8