Mechanical properties of Ti/TiN films deposited by cathodic arc with ion implantation

FRANKLIN BERMEO; JUAN PABLO QUINTANA; ARIEL KLEIMAN; FEDERICO SEQUEDA; ADRIANA MÁRQUEZ

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; 13th International Conference on Plasma Based Ion Implantation & Deposition (PBII&D 2015); 2015

TiN coatings have been widely studied in order to improve mechanical properties on steel. In this work, thin Ti/TiN films were prepared by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIID) with a cathodic arc on high speed steel M2 substrates. The PIIB device consists of a straight duct of 25 cm in length and 10 cm in diameter. The arc was run at a current of 100 A between a pure Ti cathode and a coaxial annular Cu anode. Ion implantation was performed by biasing the substrates with a pulsed voltage of 8 kV (30 s, 200 Hz). Base pressure in the chamber was around 10-5 mbar. Substrates were exposed to the discharge during 1 min in vacuum for the deposition of a Ti underlayer with the aim of improving adhesion to the substrate. Then, a TiN layer was deposited during 6 min in a nitrogen environment at a pressure of 3x10-4 mbar. Samples were obtained at room temperature and at 300 ºC, and with and without ion implantation in order to analyze differences between the effects of each treatment on the tribological properties. The films were studied by calotest and the thickness was found to be approximately 500 nm. Studies on hardness, wear and friction coefficient of the films will be presented.