Study On Scratch Performance And Phase Structure Of (Ti,Al)N Film Deposited By D.C.Magnetron Sputtering

TiAlN films has many advantages of high hardness,good chemical stability,low friction coefficient and high oxidation resistance temperature.The crystal structure of TiAlN films changed with the varirty of Al content,hence,the properties of TiAlN films will be affected.Therefore,it is important to control the content of Al in TiAlN films.This paper the TiAlN films were deposited on high-speed steel substrates by direct current magnetron sputtering.The targets were deposited Al by multi arc ion plating technology on the magnetron sputtering target Ti.By changing the area of Al on the Ti target,and then the Al content in the TiAlN film were changed.The adhesion strength of TiAlN films were tested by scrath tester.The scratch morphology of TiAlN films were observed by metalloscope;The phase structure of TiAlN films were tested by x-ray diffraction instrument(XRD);the surface topography,fracture morphology,surface composition and fracture component were analyzed by SEM.The influence of Al content on scratch performance ? phase composition and microstructure were studied,the results show that:(1)The surface of cylindrical magnetron sputtering target Ti were covered by Al,the area of Al should not be too large,otherwise,the continuous discharge can be realized only under the conditions of higher pressure,which will affect the film quality inevitably.(2)To deposit TiAlN crystalline thin films on the high speed steel substrate,the prerequisite is the all material that arrive at the surface of the substrate should have sufficient energy.Hence,in this experiment,the TiAlN crystalline thin films were deposited on the interface between aluminum and titanium,No crystalline thin films were formed in the top and bottom of the cylindrical target.(3)The adhesion strength of the samples were detected accurately by the method of the combination of scratch signal curve and scratch morphology.The adhesion strength of the samples was 34 N,20.7 N and 27 N,respectively.(4)By the comparison of the XRD patterns of the Ti and Al junction and the bottom position of the samples can be seen: the diffraction peak of TiAlN appeared in the junction of TiAlN,and with the increase of Al content in the film,the preferred orientation of TiAlN along(111)crystal surface is decreased,while the preferred orientation along(200)crystal surface increased.The peak of TiAlN decreased but the peak of AlN increased;while the TiAlN diffraction peaks almost not appeared in the bottom position.