Cr1−xNx coatings were deposited by magnetron sputtering at a substrate temperature of 200°C onto AISI 316 stainless-steel substrates immersed in an Ar/N2 plasma. The goal of this investigation was to study the influence of nitrogen content on the structural, mechanical and tribological properties of the Cr1−xNx coatings (with x being in the range of 0–0.4). The coating composition and microstructure were evaluated utilizing glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy and glancing angle X-ray diffraction, whereas the morphology was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. Knoop microhardness, scratch adhesion, pin-on-disc sliding, ball-on-plate impact and abrasive wheel wear tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical and tribological properties. The presence of Cr, Cr2N, CrN (and mixtures of these phases) has been identified and related to the film composition. For Cr1−xNx coatings with x≤0.16, only the α-Cr phase could be detected. A progression towards a denser microstructure was found with increasing nitrogen content up to x=0.29, associated with an increase in hardness from 700 up to 2400 HK0.025. Cr1−xNx coatings with x=0.10–0.16 showed good adhesion and the best abrasive and pin-on-disk sliding wear resistance, together with less crack development around the indentation area (and thus improved toughness) in impact tests after 50 000 impacts, against both steel and cemented tungsten carbide balls. The hardest coating (Cr0.71N0.29) performed best in terms of reducing the resulting impact indentation volume.

Structure, mechanical and tribological properties of nitrogen-containing chromium coatings prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

CrN and Cr 2 N thin films were deposited on silicon, quartz, HSS-steel and carbon substrates by rf reactive magnetron sputtering. The phase and texture were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The chemical composition was measured by electron probe microanalysis. Atomic force microscopy revealed a finely grained morphology. The nitrogen content in the sputtering gas influences the film composition and morphology. At N 2 partial pressure below 20% (0.08 Pa) of the total pressure (0.67 Pa) the hexagonal Cr 2 N phase is present, while above 40%, the cubic CrN phase only is observed. Thin films grown at high substrate temperatures (T s ≥400 K) exhibit larger grain sizes of up to 20 nm. The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function were determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the photon energy range of 1.5 to 5.0 eV. The core levels and the valence band were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The degree of ionicity of the Cr-N bonding increases continuously with the N 2 partial pressure promoting the CrN phase. Hardness values of 2950 HV for Cr 2 N films and 1800 HV for CrN films were obtained by microindentation,

Characterization of sputter-deposited chromium nitride thin films for hard coatings

Cr–N, Mo–N, and W–N thin films are deposited on silicon by rf reactive magnetron sputtering. The crystallographic phase and residual stress are determined by x-ray diffraction analysis. In each of the three material systems, a hexagonal and a face-centred cubic (fcc) phase are observed. Plasma diagnostics using energy-resolved mass spectroscopy reveal that a significant fraction of the Cr+ ions exhibits a high flux and kinetic energy if the nitrogen partial pressure pN2 is low. These high-energy ions effectively bombard the growing film and a densely packed morphology results. In contrast, in absence of a significant amount of high-energy ions at higher pN2, a columnar crystal morphology is observed by scanning electron microscopy. The grain size strongly depends on the presence of a second phase and on the nitrogen content. The hardness, measured by nanoindentation, increases in every material system if the content of the hexagonal phase increases. Under overstoichiometric conditions, the hardness of fcc compounds decreases. The observed hardness differences are explained by morphological changes and by differences in the electronic structure of the compounds.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/36/8/313/pdf

Structural and mechanical properties of chromium nitride, molybdenum nitride, and tungsten nitride thin films

Cr–N coatings were grown by arc evaporation onto high speed steel substrates. The coatings were each grown using a different negative substrate bias voltage, VS, between 20 and 400 V. X-ray diffraction showed a microstructure containing primarily the NaCl structured CrN phase along with the BCC-Cr and HCP-Cr2N. Auger electron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy indicate a substoichiometric (N/Cr=0.85±0.08) composition and dense columnar microstructure, respectively. At VS=400 V, equiaxed grains and microcracks parallel the substrate–coating interface were observed. The fiber textured coatings are in a compressive residual stress state that increases from 2.9 (VS=20 V) to 8.8 GPa (VS=100 V). At higher bias voltages, a decrease of the compressive residual stress is seen, which is discussed in terms of lattice defect annihilation in the collision cascade and lattice defect diffusion during deposition. Nanoindentation showed a maximum hardness at VS=100 V of 29 GPa. The critical loads for cohesive failure in a scratch test decreased monotonically with increasing negative substrate bias. The scratch results suggest a transition in deformation mechanism from plastic deformation to cracking, which occurs at lower applied loads when VS is increased. Similar behavior was also seen in a crater grinding wear test where a shift in wear mechanism from plastic deformation to chipping occurred at VS=200 V. The influence of the microstructure on the deformation transition is discussed in terms of lattice defect density and the presence of equiaxed grains.

Microstructure and mechanical behavior of arc-evaporated Cr–N coatings

The microstructure and composition of CrNx (0 andlt;= x andlt;= 1) films grown by reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS or HPPMS) have been studied as a function of the process pa ...

/pdf/microstructure-control-of-crnx-films-during-high-power-1nr0gs31oh.pdf

Microstructure control of CrNx films during high power impulse magnetron sputtering

Chromium nitride layers were deposited on stainless steel substrates using the vacuum-arc technique. The nitrogen pressure was varied during film preparation. The chemical composition of the layers was determined by XPS and RBS. Special attention was paid to XRD including phase analysis, texture evaluation and stress determination. Different phase compositions were found depending on nitrogen incorporation. Only the film prepared under floating bias potential contained the nearly stoichiometric mononitride. The lattice constants of all detected phases show some deviation from tabulated values. The coatings are strongly textured. All films exhibit compressive residual stress. After subtracting the thermal stress the intrinsic stress was still found to be compressive and of low level. It was practically independent of the nitrogen concentration in the films. Excellent thermal stability of the coatings can be concluded from tempering experiments.

Complex characterisation of vacuum arc-deposited chromium nitride thin films

A hot-pressed LaB6 cathode was used to deposit thin films by reactive cathodic arc evaporation both in residual gas and in a nitrogen atmosphere. The layers consist of a matrix phase in which polycrystalline LaB6 macroparticles are embedded. The matrix phase of the non-reactively deposited films is composed mainly of lanthanum and boron, together with some carbon and oxygen from the residual gas. The layers deposited in nitrogen atmosphere contain B-N and B-O bonds as has been shown by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Electron diffraction reveals small cubic and hexagonal BN crystallites within the amorphous matrix phase. However, IR spectroscopy confirms only the existence of hexagonal BN.

Vacuum arc deposition of thin films from an LaB6 cathode

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Complex characterisation of vacuum arc-deposited chromium nitride thin films

Vacuum arc deposition of thin films from an LaB6 cathode