Abstract
Nanocomposite Ti-Al-C films were deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) at different CH4flows. The deposited films were characterized in terms of elemental and phase compositions, chemical bonds, and texture as a function of CH4flow rate by XRD, XPS, HRTEM, Raman spectroscopy, and IR spectroscopy. The results show that the TiC grain size decreases from 4.2 to 2.9 nm as the CH4flow rate increases from 30 to 80 sccm. The analysis of XPS, HRTEM, and Raman spectroscopy shows that the microstructure of deposited films turns from a TiC dominant TiC-C film to a carbon network dominant TiAl-doped a-C film structure as the CH4flow increases from 30 sccm to 80 sccm. IR spectroscopy shows that most of the hydrogen atoms in the deposited films are bonded to the sp3-hybridized C atoms. All the composition and microstructure change can be explained by considering the plasma conditions and the effect of CH4flow.
Highlights
Advanced methods in surface technologies, providing new thin film materials with multifunctional properties, are demanded with progress in future engineering applications in tribology, machining, and manufacturing processes
Filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) deposition is a promising technique for the production of high quality hard thin films, the main feature of which is to employ a curved magnetic field to guide the plasma generated from the cathodic vacuum arc to deposit on an out-of-sight substrate
It can be found that the content of Al changes slightly while the Ti concentration shows a decrease from 25.32 at.% to 11.92 at.% with increasing CH4 flow rate from 30 sccm to 80 sccm
Summary
Advanced methods in surface technologies, providing new thin film materials with multifunctional properties, are demanded with progress in future engineering applications in tribology, machining, and manufacturing processes. Applications in tribology or machining of steels and alloys require coatings combining low friction coefficient, high hardness, and chemical and high temperature stability. These requirements of multifunctionality of the surface of components and/or tools could be met by applying improved coating concepts like metastable, multilayer, gradient, and nanocomposite PVD coatings [1]. Filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) deposition is a promising technique for the production of high quality hard thin films, the main feature of which is to employ a curved magnetic field to guide the plasma generated from the cathodic vacuum arc to deposit on an out-of-sight substrate. The investigations were mainly focused on the change of microstructure in the deposited films as a function of CH4 flow rate
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