Effect of roughness of substrate and sputtering power on the properties of TiN coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering for ATF

Abstract TiN coatings have been deposited on Zr-4 substrates using direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering and the effects of roughness of substrate and sputtering power on the microstructure, thickness/deposition rate, adhesion properties and residual stress of coatings have been studied. The microstructures of the coatings were characterized by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The thicknesses of the coatings were detected by using SEM. The adhesion property was tested by using scratch testing. The residual stress was measured by using the XRD method. The results shown that the microstructure, thickness/deposition rate, adhesion properties and residual stress of coating are significantly influenced by the roughness of substrate and sputtering power. The roughness of substrate has significant influence on the surface micrograph of the coating but not obvious on the thickness/deposition rate. The microstructure, thickness/deposition rate is remarkably affected by the sputtering power. In addition, the adhesion property does not vary monotonically with the roughness of substrate and the sputtering power. The adhesion strength presents a trend of first rises and then declines with the increase of surface roughness of substrate and sputtering power. The residual stresses of the coating were compressive and the residual stress magnitude of the coatings deposited by relatively low sputtering power was higher than that deposited by relatively high sputtering power.