Abstract
AlxCr1−x composite cathodes with Al contents of x = 0.75, 0.5, and 0.25 were exposed to cathodic arc plasmas in Ar, N2, and O2 atmospheres and their erosion behavior was studied. Cross-sectional analysis of the elemental distribution of the near-surface zone in the cathodes by scanning electron microscopy revealed the formation of a modified layer for all cathodes and atmospheres. Due to intermixing of Al and Cr in the heat-affected zone, intermetallic Al-Cr phases formed as evidenced by x-ray diffraction analysis. Cathode poisoning effects in the reactive N2 and O2 atmospheres were nonuniform as a result of the applied magnetic field configuration. With the exception of oxide islands on Al-rich cathodes, reactive layers were absent in the circular erosion zone, while nitrides and oxides formed in the less eroded center region of the cathodes.
Highlights
Cathodic arc deposition is a frequently applied physical vapor deposition technique to synthesize hard coating materials like TiAlN,1–3 AlCrN,4,5 or AlCrO.6–8 In industrial-scale processes, typically alloy or composite cathode materials containing the metal components, i.e., Ti, Cr, or Al for the mentioned examples, are employed as they enable high growth rates and a good reproducibility while the design of the deposition system can be kept relatively simple
With the exception of oxide islands on Al-rich cathodes, reactive layers were absent in the circular erosion zone, while nitrides and oxides formed in the less eroded center region of the cathodes
The composite structure of the virgin cathode material is clearly visible in the cross-section scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images shown in Fig. 2 where the Cr grains are embedded in the Al matrix
Summary
Cathodic arc deposition is a frequently applied physical vapor deposition technique to synthesize hard coating materials like TiAlN, AlCrN, or AlCrO. In industrial-scale processes, typically alloy or composite cathode materials containing the metal components, i.e., Ti, Cr, or Al for the mentioned examples, are employed as they enable high growth rates and a good reproducibility while the design of the deposition system can be kept relatively simple. In industrial-scale processes, typically alloy or composite cathode materials containing the metal components, i.e., Ti, Cr, or Al for the mentioned examples, are employed as they enable high growth rates and a good reproducibility while the design of the deposition system can be kept relatively simple. The reactive gases N2 or O2 are added during the deposition process to synthesize nitride and/or oxide coating materials. The plasma properties present in the cathodic arc plasmas from alloy or composite cathodes have been studied to some extent in order to gain knowledge about the growth conditions encountered in deposition processes utilizing cathodic arcs. Most of the studies measured the ion charge states or ion energies in vacuum conditions. 15 and 16) has been evaluated by measuring the ion charge states and energies as a function of the background gas pressure The influence of an inert or reactive background gas on the cathodic arc plasma from Ti-Al (Ref. 14) and Al-Cr cathodes (Refs. 15 and 16) has been evaluated by measuring the ion charge states and energies as a function of the background gas pressure
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