Depth profile analyses of nc-TiC/a-C:H coating prepared by balanced magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Nanocrystalline titanium carbide embedded in an hydrogenated amorphous carbon matrix (nc-TiC/a-C:H) shows high hardness and Young's modulus together with low wear and low friction coefficient. In this paper, we report on the preparation of well adherent nc-TiC/a-C:H coatings ~5μm thick on stainless steel substrates using a well balanced magnetic field configuration and only very low power RF bias on the substrate. Hardness and Young's modulus of these coatings are 43GPa and 380GPa, respectively. The mechanical properties – hardness and Young's modulus – measured from the coating's top reach the values obtained at optimized experiments where the unbalanced magnetic field configuration was used. A simple method of depth profiling suitable for evaluation of mechanical properties of several micrometers thick coatings is developed and employed. The paper reports on the depth profile analyses of the coating hardness, Young's modulus, composition and morphology.