AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Advanced Surface Engineering Thursday Sessions
       Session SE-ThP

Paper SE-ThP1
Study of Mechanical Properties of Tungsten Nitride and Tungsten Carbide Hard Coatings

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 5:30 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Advanced Surface Engineering Poster Session
Presenter: E.C. Samano, CCMC-UNAM, Mexico
Authors: E.C. Samano, CCMC-UNAM, Mexico
W. De la Cruz, CCMC-UNAM, Mexico
G. Soto, CCMC-UNAM, Mexico
Correspondent: Click to Email
Transition metal nitride and carbide coatings are a good alternative to be used as protective layers against wear because transition metals are hard materials with a high melting point. Tungsten nitride and carbide coatings are an excellent choice to prevent wearing of cutting tools, structural components, etc. Their mechanical properties can be tailored by controlling the nitrogen and carbon content, in each case, during film processing. The investigation on the relationship between thin film preparation conditions and mechanical properties of tungsten nitride and tungsten carbide is presented in this work. We report the growth of tungsten nitride and carbide coatings grown on stainless steel substrates by reactive dc magnetron sputtering in the ambient of N@sub2@/Ar and CH@sub 4@/Ar gas mixtures, respectively, at various pressures and magnetron system input powers. The composition of the films is determined by XPS and film crystallinity by XRD. The mechanical properties of the films are studied as a function of gas pressure and magnetron input power. The average hardness of the deposited coatings were found to be in the 31 to 37 GPa range for tungsten nitride and in the 30 to 41 GPa range for tungsten carbide.