Effect of the auxiliary cathode on the thickness of the HiPIMS TiAlN coating deposited on the inner surface of the tube

Abstract

The paper is focused on influencing the thickness of the TiAlN layer deposited using the high power pulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) method on the inner surface of the tube. The HiPIMS method makes it possible to deposit layers at temperatures up to 400°C. An auxiliary cathode placed in the axis of the coated tube was used. The auxiliary cathode made it possible to deposit an AlTiN layer with a thickness in the center of the coated tube up to 45% higher compared to the thickness of the layer deposited without an auxiliary cathode.The layer thickness was measured to be from 1.5 µm to 2.2 µm for the layer deposited without an auxiliary cathode and 1.05 µm to 1.95 µm for the layer deposited with the wire as the cathode in the axis of the coated tube. Adhesion of the evaluated layers showed the degree of HF2 at the measured thickness points.