AVS 46th International Symposium
    Thin Films Division Monday Sessions
       Session TF+VM-MoA

Paper TF+VM-MoA1
Characterization of PVD TiN/CN@subx@ and TiN/Si@sub3@N@sub4@ Multilayer Coatings

Monday, October 25, 1999, 2:00 pm, Room 620

Session: Advances in Hard and Superhard Coatings II
Presenter: Y.H. Chen, Northwestern University
Authors: Y.H. Chen, Northwestern University
Y.W. Chung, Northwestern University
Correspondent: Click to Email
TiN coatings are commonly used in various tribological applications for their wear resistance and inertness to steels. However, TiN coatings predominantly grow with a columnar grain structure. The columnar grain boundaries become the usual sites for crack initiation, resulting in earlier failure of TiN coatings (especially thick coatings). In our research, TiN/a-CN@subx@ and TiN/a-Si@sub3@N@sub4@ nanolayered superlattice coatings are developed to suppress the columnar structure. We used a-CN@subx@ and a-Si@sub3@N@sub4@ primarily to periodically interrupt and renucleate the growth of TiN. In addition, the amorphous layers may serve to suppress the transmission of dislocations from one TiN layer to another, thereby enhancing the hardness of the coating. Both coatings have been demonstrated to achieve hardness in the 50 GPa range, consistent with recent reports for high hardness of TiN/a-Si@sub3@N@sub4@ nanocomposites. The correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties of these coatings will be presented.