Abstract
Hard coatings are a suitable solution for increasing the lifetime of tools and components employed in different industrial applications. Coatings of transition metal nitrides have great use for tribological applications due to due to their unique mechanical properties. Although widely employed, current deposition methods such as cathodic arc evaporation produce coatings with many defects, which in turn reduce the resistance to wear, especially under severe conditions. High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering is a novel physical vapor deposition technique that produces homogeneous coatings. In this study, CrN and CrAlN monolayer coatings were deposited on AISI 304 stainless steel substrates using HiPIMS. X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy were used to evaluate the microstructure, phase composition, morphology and chemical composition of the coating. Results showed that HiPIMS is a promising technique to deposit CrN and CrAlN homogeneous coatings with high hardness and good adhesion to the substrate.
Highlights
Physical Vapor Deposition is a widely used method for coating deposition in industrial scale[1]
The use of magnetrons on the target and the application of high power impulses allows a higher degree of ionization combined with better densification and reduction or full elimination of defects on the coating in a technique called High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS)[2,3,4]
One of the main strengths of HiPIMS is the use of impulses instead of the continuous power supply, which allows for a higher peak power without melting or causing damages to the target[5]
Summary
Physical Vapor Deposition is a widely used method for coating deposition in industrial scale[1]. One of the main strengths of HiPIMS is the use of impulses instead of the continuous power supply, which allows for a higher peak power without melting or causing damages to the target[5] Another attractive advantage is the possibility to use the ion etching as a previous step before coating deposition. The ion etching promotes a final cleaning of the coating by using high voltage to ionize either argon or metal ions towards the substrate. The collision of these ionized atoms cleans the surface of the impurities that could not be previously removed. This allows a better adhesion of the coating, which cannot be achieved by other Magnetron Sputtering techniques[2,5,6]
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