Deposition Of Arc Ion Plated And Magnetron Sputtered TiCN Coatings With Pulsed Bias

TiN and TiC coatings have been extensively applied to hardness coatings based on the systematically and deeply academic researches on their microstructures and properties in the world. The hardness of TiN coating is not high enough when it is applied to cutting tools and moulds in modern industries, even though its comprehensive properties have been much enhanced. TiC coatings possess high hardness but the toughness is low and they are brittle in case a shocking load is applied at non-continuous cutting. To overcome the disadvantages of the both TiN and TiC, TiCN coating is developed since it shows excellent mechanical properties, chemical stability, good wear resistance and corrosion resistance as well. In this work, arc ion plating and magnetron sputtering techniques are simultaneously employed to deposit the TiCN coatings deposited on the well-polished high-speed steel substrates which are applied with a pulsed bias superimposed with a dc bias. A Ti target and a C target, with high-purity (99.99%), were ionized by arc and sputtering at the same time during the deposition of TiCN coatings within the N2and Ar plasma. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) were adopted to probe the microstructures and surface morphology of the coatings. The hardness of the coatings were measured by a Vickers tester. The deposition rate was obtained by calculations based on the thickness measured by the profiler and deposition time.The effects of dc bias, voltage and duty-ratio of the pulsed bias on the structure and properties of the TiCN coatings were investigated. The results show that the TiCN coatings, deposited simultaneously by arc ion plating and magnetron sputtering tecniques, exhibit excellent comprehensive performance. The deposition rate is fast and smooth surfaces are achieved. The maximum microhardness of TiCN coatings fabricated by this method can reach3800HV.