Abstract
Plasma source low-energy ion-enhanced deposition is a new approach for the deposition of thin films on steel and alloys with specific advantages over ion beam-enhanced deposition (IBED) and the complex combined plasma source ion implantation (PSII) and IBED (PSII-IBED). It may be used to develop a thin film process using the plasma-based low-energy ion implantation including plasma source ion nitriding and plasma source ion carburizing. A deposition apparatus based on an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave plasma source, a magnetron sputtering target and a pulsed low-voltage power supply from 0.5 to 2 kV has been developed. The magnetron sputter deposition of Ti metal films and plasma source low-energy nitrogen ion implantation under a high nitrogen ion implantation dose rate of 0.65–1.20 mA/cm 2 are used alternately in order to synthesize the stoichiometric TiN films on A3 mild steel and M2 high-speed steel at a deposition rate of 50–110 nm/min. The Knoop microhardness of the 1.2–1.6 μm thick TiN films on the M2 steel is in the range of 18.0–20.0 GPa (0.05 N load). The critical loads of the TiN films on the M2 steel measured by the scratch test are 22–35 N corresponding to the formation of an intermixed layer of about 40 nm thick between the film and the steel substrate. The corrosion resistance of the TiN films in 0.5 mol/l H 2SO 4 solution is evaluated by performing electrochemical polarization measurements. Their superior corrosion resistance is a result of the dense fine-grained microstructure and is independent of the preferential orientation of the films.
Published Version
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