Nanostructured Ta C interlayer synthesized via double glow plasma surface alloying process for diamond deposition on cemented carbide

Abstract The aim in this work was to improve the adhesion of diamond coating with pre-deposition of a TaxC interlayer on cemented carbide (WC–Co) substrate by double glow plasma surface alloying technique. The following deposition of diamond coating on the interlayer was performed in a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) reactor. TaxC interlayer with an inner diffusion layer and an outer deposition layer was composed of Ta2C and TaC nanocrystalline, and it exhibited a special compact surface morphology formed of flower-shaped pits. As the gradual element distributions existed in the diffusion layer, the interlayer displayed a superior adherence to the substrate with significantly enhanced surface microhardness to the original substrate. After CVD process, the preferred orientation of TaC changed from (2 2 2) to (2 0 0) plane, and a uniform and tense diamond coating with adhesion referred to class HF 2 at least (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure 3198 norm) was obtained on the interlayered substrate. It indicated that the diffusion of Co was effectively inhibited by the formation of TaxC diffusion–deposition interlayer. The TaxC interlayer is most likely to improve the performance of diamond coatings used in cutting tools.