Deposition, microstructure and hardness of TiN/(Ti,Al)N multilayer films

In this work, TiN/(Ti,Al)N multilayer films were deposited on stainless steel substrates with alternatively switching Ti and TiAl alloy targets sources on and off by pulse biased arc ion plating. The crystallography structures and cross-sectional structures of TiN/(Ti,Al)N multilayer films were evaluated by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and by TEM, respectively. The hardness and film/substrate adhesion were determined by nanoindentation and scratch test, respectively. A complex set of microstructures has been found between TiN and (Ti,AI)N layers, at the interface, another layered interfacial region which consists of extremely fine sub-layers, which results from the rotation of the specimen in the deposition chamber. The hardness values of the multilayers exhibit higher hardness compared with that of monolithic (Ti,Al)N film. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.